LAFOLOT

This is not a whiny blog about pity me childhood stuff; but a discussion on personal-awareness of views placed on new lives/souls being born into this world. ‘Life is a Song in the Key of Love’ – be in AWE of it all, respect life in all its forms of expression; and make life a song!

Labels I’ve heard:

Your head is BIG! – You can’t wear your hair short – Your eyes are too close set. [I felt bad about my looks.]
You’re big boned – you wear a size X. [When I see my childhood photos, I look very thin?]
You have a Wide foot, D-width. [I picked clunky, boring shoes.]
You don’t want to dress like those snobby girls. [when given the chance to pick a flower print or plain-striped dress - I chose the plain-striped dress - which I really disliked.]
Oh! You got placed in those honors classes – that’s where all the snobby kids are. [As a result, I asked to be placed in the next lower level, so I wouldn't be seen as snobby - rather than challenging my mind.]
You’re too quiet, cat got your tongue? [as a result, I talked less!]

I CRINGE when I hear new parents tell me:
My child or my grandchild is in the Such-and-Such National Percentile.
The ‘Doctor’ says he/she is TOO short, TOO tall, TOO small etc COMPARED TO other children at that age.

I hear these labels announced loudly and clearly in FRONT OF toddlers (I remember comments made about me at age 4!)

I understand the need to be aware of certain physical and mental development issues in order to provide treatment or education at an early age, where it is available; to improve the quality of life.

At WHAT point do we let the child know: YOU’RE OKAY JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!

When we keep hearing, as children, everything that is WRONG with us; that we don’t fit the NORM – our self-esteem goes crashing into the ground or never gets developed.

Someone sent me an e-mail of groups of people from all over the world. I think it had to do with wealth. What I noticed. The people I was taught appeared to be poorest and lacking; HAD THE BIGGEST SMILES AND BRIGHTEST LIGHT in their eyes!

I am not saying to not get your teeth straightened or eyes or hearing corrected, or anything else that may improve the quality of your life! Good hygiene makes for a happier, healthier life. Just don’t do this because you want to FIT IN with the NORM, the AVERAGE.

I went to a hairstylist about 10 years ago and said: ‘I was told I can’t wear my hair short with my ears cut out; because my head is big and my ears are too big.’ She said: ‘I don’t think that’s true at all, let’s try it.’ Well, check out my photo on my website, I think she was right! My head is just PERFECT as well as my ears!

DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY and tell a beautiful new soul that’s recently arrived in this world; YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL, YOU’RE PERFECT – JUST THE WAY YOU ARE! Children observe, hear and hold onto what they are told from a very early age – fill them with thoughtful words not of judgement, but of acceptance. Share this philosophy with their siblings. Compliment them on their uniqueness, and perhaps we’ll start growing some healthy, self-loved teens and adults.

There’s no need for a world of clones. I’m 5 feet 2 inches; when I go grocery shopping, I openly ask anyone taller than me for help with reaching items on the top shelves. After the kindness is done for me, I tell them to come and get me if they need anything from the lower grocery shelves, since I don’t have to reach down as far!

VARIETY is the SPICE of Life! Don’t LABEL and JUDGE rather APPRECIATE the DIVERSITY! This allows us to be of more HELP to one another, due to our differences in mental, physical, and emotional ability.

There’s a story of the difference between heaven and hell. Hell is a bunch of people with very long arms with spoons as hands, all sitting around a bowl of soup, starving; because they can’t put the soup in their mouths due to the long arms.

Heaven is a bunch of people with very long arms with spoons as hands, all sitting around a bowl of soup, healthy and happy; because they are feeding one another.

Let’s feed one another with appreciation, acceptance, tolerance, respect and Make Life a Song!

Highlighted Helen of LAFOLOT
Live life in a-MAZE-ment!
Make Life a Song!
www.lafolot.com
[this blog may also be read at Vibrant Nation under Blog Circle name: Helenoflafolot]

When I was a teenager, my Uncle Dominic (a great dad as well as a wonderful Uncle) showed me a mathematical trick with a calculator. He loved sharing fun stories and jokes he had picked up along the way. I don’t remember the story, but the punchline to the mathematical trick/joke – as shown on a DIGITAL calculator display was:

710 77345

When you turned the calculator upside down; with the digitally displayed-squared corner numbers, it read: shell oil

Calucator numbers, when viewed upside down, can appear as letters:
1 = L or I
3 = E
4 = h
5 = S
6 or 9 = G
7 = L
8 = B
0 = O

In my motivational/inspirational speaking as well as videos, I talk about ‘Seeing With New Eyes’; looking at life from a new/different perspective and awareness. Being a visual person, I tend to look at things from different angles and views. Think about the paintings that were popular, with a painting within a painting. If you allowed your eyes to go soft and lose focus, you could see another painting pop out!

It’s the same with life! Sometimes we see a situation or result in one set way. If we go back and re-look, re-view, re-visit, we can RE-FRESH our OUTLOOK about the situation! LOOKOUT, your life could change, for the better!

I also like going to a local family/Italian restaurant, because they put a big sheet of white paper on the tables to allow customers and kids to color/draw with crayons. I take advantage of the opportunity to ‘let my little kid out’. I like using the crayons to write my name, as well as other sayings BACKWARDS and UPSIDE DOWN and BACKWARDS! I love to DOODLE!

So, if you’re ever wonder if it’s a good time to laugh, try 3:34 (am or pm) or 7:07 (am or pm)!

WHY? Come on now, haven’t you been listening? Look at these times on a digital clock, UPSIDE DOWN and BACKWARDS!

3:34 = hEE
7:07 = LOL (laugh out loud)

If you need a reminder or trigger of when to take a break during the day and let out a healthy laugh or giggle, try: 3:37 and 7:07

At 3:34 let out a: HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE
At 7:07 LAUGH OUT LOUD!
At 4:45 Do a QUIET or SILENT laugh. Why? 4:45 (Upside Down and Backwards) = SHH – shhhhhhh, quiet please!
hee hee hee – oops wait a MINUTE, it’s not TIME for the hEE laugh!

ANY TIME IS A GOOD TIME TO LAUGH! Just turn your head to the side and look at the digital clock display upside down and backwards! [DON'T DO THIS IN YOUR CAR WHILE DRIVING!] hee hee, oops! shhhhhhhhh, LOL!!!!!

This has been a HIGHLIGHTED, HA HA Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT moment… or minute … OH! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!
*hee hee shhhhh LOL – YES! I DO!
gotta laugh, gotta get healthy, GET IT?

TAKE ‘TIME’ TO LAUGH throughout your day!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Live Life in A-MAZE-ment!
moment by moment, minute by minute
www.lafolot.com
[this blog post may also be seen at Vibrant Nation under blog name: Helenoflafolot ]

When you can LAUGH at the amazing spiritual lessons that are going on around you, no matter how absurd, joy comes to your heart!

I started out the day, peacefully and productively. I was so proud of my positive way in which I dealt with the latest ‘Loonie-fields’ condo board actions! As I shared, previously, about bringing my NOW ILLEGAL birdbath into my home as a water-reflection bowl for candles; I got to enjoy mini rainbow spots all over my dining room walls and ceiling as the sun passed through the votive candle holders yesterday!

So, there I was, sitting at my computer, looking out my PEACEFUL view of daffodils, birds, a beautiful gray stone wall surrounding a church cemetery when: da dun, da dun … da dun da dun… JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE!

Ha Ha! Two men, one with a notepad, examing my plant hanger with silk flower basket outside my office window. (delete explitives here – ha ha) – NOW WHAT! I had my sliding glass doors open, so I went over and asked: IS THERE A PROBLEM? BECAUSE IF THERE’S A PROBLEM, TELL ME NOW – SO I CAN REMOVE THE OFFENDING PLANT HANGER AND POT SO AS NOT TO ADD TO THE 10 LETTERS THE BOARD HAS ALREADY SENT ME – AS WELL AS BEING TOLD I’LL BE FINED! The men said, oh no no no, we’re just walking around to check things.

I said, ‘Well, I read your letter and removed all the mums and daffodils per the note to remove all perennials from the grounds around the buildings. What else is it that is a problem so we can take care of it, so I can have some peace!’ They said, oh no, we don’t know anything about that. I said: ‘Well, I guess you haven’t read your Board letter.’ ha ha (How was I doing with my spiritual growth in this moment? hmm?) Gotta laugh at myself!

So, I realize I need to take a deep breath and calm down. I get myself focused, and get ready to go ‘out and about’ to pick up the paper to see my Book Signing AD, stop at the grocery store and then head out to lunch. I accomplish all this in a gradually more calming manner. I even got to try some of my uplifting, motivational talk with a friend’s daughter who recently lost her job, lost her boyfriend and relocated to the area. Isn’t it said, if you’re feeling down, reach out and help someone else? So, I felt good that I took the focus off myself, long enough, to help another soul.

Then, I thought to myself – I need a mini-vacation. If you got to read my CHUCKLING WITH THE DUCKS blog from last Fall; I decided to head over to Boiling Springs Children’s Lake (Central PA area of USA).

My intention was to sit in the same spot as before (I noticed the HA HA HA black marker letters were no longer there). My intention was to SIT, BE STILL, AND ALLOW NATURE TO CONTINUE ‘BEing’ around me. So, I find a nice spot on the gray stone step right down at the water level. The lake is fed by a natural water bubble, bubbling up from the earth. It was great. It was within a foot of me, where I sat!

I knew if I sat there long enough, even though it is a big lake, eventually the ducks, geese and white swans would slowly come by to visit. I knew all I had to do was relax and BE. I even got so relaxed as to remove my sneakers and socks (It was 74 degrees fahrenheit out!).

So, there I was, just BEing. Far from the madding crowd (ha ha). Ah, yes, *sigh – breathe in and out – far from thoughts of the Loonie-fields condo board ….. *sigh – ah yes – breathe in and out – just BEing – yessssss – birds twittering, flying, chirping…
feel the peace …

“HEY, HAVE YOU SEEN ANY SNAKES!” (laugh out loud) A red headed, freckled kid about 9 years old comes stomping towards me from the road. I look up and smile, telling him no, I hadn’t. I like kids and like talking and joking with them, so I didn’t mind.
The hilarious part is, (as I got up to help him look around for snakes and dip my feet in the cool refreshing water) he started to get more and more exaggerated with his LOVE of violence with animals! He let me know he had two days off school for the holiday.
He started to describe, in detail, the most deadly snakes of the world; how they bite and bite and bite and watch their prey slowly die! He went on and on and on! [WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PEACEFUL MOMENT?]

I asked where he had learned so much about snakes? He proudly revealed he had gone to the library! I told him that was great. He was frustrated that he had recently had to do a report on an animal for school. He said it had to be on the Polar Bear. I said, don’t you like Polar Bears? He said no, but all the GOOD animals were taken. He said he was 24th on the list to pick an animal and all the: SNAKES, LIONS, TIGERS – the good animals that kill stuff, were taken! I said, ‘Oh!’ (Was I talking to a future Charles Manson, here!) I said: Next time, if you want an interesting animal, try a rat or cockroach – they’ve been around since prehistoric times. They are amazing creatures. They adapt to all situations. HE WALKED AWAY! (laugh out loud!)

So, then – back to my PEACEFUL just BEing. Ah yess….. some ducks started to come towards me… a black bird… ah yess…. just BEing – then…. ‘JUMP DOWN TO THE GRAY ROCK NEAR THE WATER’S EDGE demanding: WHAT’S THIS!’ A woman coming behind the child, stating: THAT’S SEAWEED! (What seaweed was doing along the rock’s edge of a lake, I don’t know. ha ha The older woman was caught off-guard by the child’s question. She then said: ALGAE) Along comes another woman, who sits on the step directly behind me.

The first woman asks directly, as she sees my shoes and sneakers sitting on the wall to my left: FEET TIRED FROM WALKING? The little girl joins in: WHY DID YOU TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!? (laugh out loud)

I said: ‘Because I’m a stressed out older woman who is working on relaxing.’ The older woman laughed. Then, an older gentleman (seemed to be a friend of the older woman) joined them. He came over to observe the little girl poking her stick at the: SHE ANNOUNCED – IT’S SEAWEED, GEORGE! IT’S SEAWEED! He said, Oh? (I had to laugh). Then, the little girl decided she needed to get up and down the steps by squeezing through the 2 inch space between the step I was sitting on and the wall. I was happy to accommodate. I thought it was funny. At one point, she was holding her stick with GOOPS AND GOOPS of dripping SEAWEED on it, about an inch from my head. The older woman asked her to not drip the GOOP ON THE LADY. (that was nice)

From listening to the foursome, it appeared the woman sitting behind me was the mother of the little girl. The mother had a back problem and had to take sitting breaks while walking around the lake. The older woman may have been a friend or grandparent.

I just had to laugh. I thought to myself while the little kid STORMED in with the SNAKES! question and the little girl who JUMPED freely off the wall down to the rock where I was sitting (along with the older woman talking to the girl’s mother about: MURDEROUS birds outside her window, knocking eggs out of a nest and killing the birds) – WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

I laughed to myself, and asked the question: ‘What am I learning here?’ I thought, ‘I drove AWAY from the Condo People to get some emotional and mental relaxation and I start to get VISITED by SNAKES, AND KIDS AND PEOPLE, OH MY!

Well, Dorothy, you didn’t have to leave Kansas to learn the lesson! I knew, when I got there, if I JUST SAT – the birds, swans, ducks and geese would softly, quietly, eventually float or fly over to me. I then realized, if I JUST SAT – the little boy with his snakes, the little girl with her seaweed goo, the woman with the murderous bird stories, eventually CAME and WENT!

After I realized this, I noticed the buds had started to sprout on the cherry blossom tree to my left. I noticed green buds appearing on the tree to my right. I noticed the Beautiful White Swans had suddenly appeared within viewing distance of me!

All I had to do was BE. Just BE. Sometimes loud little boys with stories of KILLER snakes appeared; sometimes little girls with Seaweed Goop, and sometimes blackbirds, ducks, geese or swans… but THEY ALL came and went.

It appears I experienced all the lessons of the Bible, Budhist Mindfulness, Rumi, and other great sources of inspiration – just by BEing at Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs this afternoon. As I type this, a little bird is working its way through the grass outside my window…. it came and now it is going. My cat Kitty stopped by to visit and lounge across the keyboard so I would pet her furry belly while she relaxed… then, she left…

Thanks to ALL that visited me today!
Living life in amazement!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
LOOK OUT! IT’S A SNAKE COVERED IN SEAWEED GOO! …just kidding!
Highlighted Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT
Living in the moment…
www.lafolot.com
[this blog post may also be seen at Vibrant Nation - Blog Circle name: Helenoflafolot ]

Meet my alter ego and distant distant Hungarian cousin: Ilonka Szollosi (pronounced: Szeu-leu-shee)

I didn’t start singing until age 40. I have a lower, torch singing voice. When I would go to church or other events; the key of the music didn’t fit my voice. I thought I sounded odd when I heard the higher female voices around me. One day, my church announced they were performing GODSPELL and needed ‘players’. I got brave and showed up! Due to a fluke, I got the role of Sonia. LUCKY ME! Sonia sings a saloon-style, lower range song called: Turn Back Oh Man!

A star was born! The song range fit my voice perfectly! My vocals came out clearly, without strain! WOW! I thought, I can sing! The rest is history! I got fellow, piano playing church members to use the electronic keyboard to adjust the key to fit my voice. These folks played and recorded to tape, music I could learn in MY KEY! I eventually performed a torch singing show at our church coffee house.

Yes, I was ‘rusty’, and the audience was loving and forgiving. I went on to take voice lessons to hone my skills. I also started to collect songs that fit my voice. Thank goodness for karaoke machines with key/pitch adjustments, I was able to start singing a wider variety of music! Thanks to a friend named, Vicki, I got to practice my singing by going to nursing homes and singing! The folks loved my voice and ERA of music that fit my voice. I found the silver screen era music fit beautifully!

I evolved into singing on stage in the role of DOMINA (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). The music for this character fit my voice! I got to sing: Dirty Old Man (what a thrill!)

So if anyone has ever told you, YOU CAN’T SING! Step away from the PEER PRESSURE and JUDGEMENT. Step away from that label. Tell your friends to be: PEER POSITIVES and be supportive.

As my friend Ilonka Szollosi says in her youtube video: REPEAT ME! YOU, TOO, CAN SING! LET ME HEAR YOU!

Seriously! Make your soul happy! ‘Sing out loud, sing out strong – don’t worry that it’s not good enough, for anyone else to hear, just sing, sing a song!) Neil Diamond

In laughter clubs, we PURPOSELY SING BADLY because it’s more fun. So sing along – BADLY IF YOU WISH – with Ilonka Szollosi as she encourages you to make your soul happy and SING!

http://www.youtube.com/Helenoflafolot#p/a/u/0/ByEz_H3uUR0

Have a beautiful, song filled day!
Put a song in your heart, a smile on your face and a glimmer in your eye!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Live Life in Amazement! and be a PEER POSITIVE not a PEER PRESSURE NEGATIVE
ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS TO BE ALL THEY CAN BE – WITHOUT JUDGEMENT!
Highlighted Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT
www.lafolot.com
[this blog can also be viewed at Vibrant Nation under blog circle name: Helenoflafolot]