Not that it matters, she appeared to be from mid-Eastern background. Being a 3rd generation Hungarian-American, I can understand cultural guidelines.

So, when she responded ‘no’, I smiled – withdrew the offer. I said, ‘I’m a laughter yoga’ instructor – I use these to teach people how to take a deep breath and release it – while having fun with the pinwheel.’ I said, ‘It’s actually not a toy.’ She smiled.

I went to pay my bill, the woman’s food was ready. She saw me laughing and joking with the owner, since I know them well. She looked to me and ‘APOLOGIZED!’ I said: ‘Oh No! It’s quite alright to say ‘no’!’ It’s a very HEALTHY thing to do! [I learned that 'no' is an okay announce, and NO explanation is needed as a follow-up!]
I’m glad you felt comfortable telling me ‘no’. She smiled and thanked me. I said: ‘There is NO GUILT involved in not accepting an offer from me!’ She laughed!

So, KUDOS, to this wonderful, self-assured woman who felt comfortable in responding with a ‘healthy no’ – with no explanation, needed.

HOORAY!
Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT
WWW.LAFOLOT.COM

I had to laugh at myself the other day; actually, I do that most days! I was in a pleasant mood, driving home from lunch, thinking what a beautiful, crisp March day it was. I thought, ‘What a great day for a walk!’ I thought, ‘I’ll get out and take a walk as soon as a I get home!’

So, as I turn into my condo development, once again the same ‘chatty’ condo owner that blocks the condo development exit by stopping people in their cars to talk to them, was doing it again! My pleasant mood went immediately to pissed off, mood as I got stuck; with no way around her – as she sat in her car talking to another condo owner!

Well, this time, she actually started to drive forward after she saw me behind her. But, being me, the BLOCK annoyed me and my mind started. (gotta laugh at myself)

I park my car, (while stewing about BLOCK lady); [The comedian/actor Danny Thomas actually did an entire skit about this!]
I start to walk back to my condo unit (while stewing about block lady);
I get distracted (while stewing about block lady), and start to fix a landscaping ornament;
I open my condo unit door (while stewing about block lady);
I ’sniff’ the pet litter box (while stewing about BLOCK lady);
I open the cat litter box door area to clean out the boxes (while stewing about BLOCK lady);
I then notice that I have tracked mud all over the living room carpet (due to being distracted stewing about BLOCK lady);
I think (no problem, I know Oxyclean will take that right out of the carpet) – (while stewing about block lady);
I remove my walking shoes to stop further tracking of the mud (gotten while stepping into the landscaping area to reposition a lawn ornament – while stewing about BLOCK lady);
Stop at my bathroom for a pit stop;
Do some other things;
Get on my computer;
See a note posted by a friend that SUDDENLY reminds me -
I FORGOT TO TAKE MY WALK! (due to allowing myself to be blocked, and stew about condo lady)!
HA HA had to laugh at myself and my mis-direction as a result of allowing my view of one, momentary event to throw me off the track.

So, this morning, I got up and had an enlightened moment! AH HA!
Next time I ‘feel’ I am being BLOCKED on a physical or mental path due to a distraction; rather than be annoyed, I made up this mantra: BLOCK? PAUSE, BE MINDFULL, RE-DIRECT

In this way, I can acknowledge what I see as the block -
CHOOSE to pause -
CHOOSE to take that moment to breathe, relax and be mindfull -
Allowing me to be open to new opportunities, new directions, and maybe set off in a new direction.

Maybe that block has a purpose?

So here’s to BLOCK, PAUSE, BE, REDIRECT

This has been a Highlighted, Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT moment -
May all your days, minutes, moments BE………..
www.lafolot.com
helenoflafolot@yahoo.com

Being in the throes of menopause as well as dealing with a week of overcast skies; yesterday was a bit gloomy. I went to my favorite Thai Palace restaurant for lunch. The owners Lily and Xay are always friendly and accommodating as well as their servers Heli, Pen, and Mai. I feel like a Queen while dining there. So, having a gloomy day – what a surprise it was when Lily brought my lunch special with a side of rice in the shape of a Heart! It put an instant smile on my face, and I let her know it was appreciated!

Another friend sent me an e-mail the other day about going through life and not saying ‘I love you’ to the people you cherish. I had to laugh, because that phrase wasn’t mentioned in my household. I’m not saying there wasn’t caring and concern, just not the verbal mention. Hence, I don’t relate much to the phrase. I feel actions speak louder than words.

I remember tagging along with my mom to my grandparent’s house when I was 4 or 5. My grandfather would sit at the kitchen table; a stocky, dark haired-bald in front, dark brown eyed man with glasses. As a child, I was afraid of him. I was afraid of a lot of people that were taller and bigger than me. I remember my mother telling me to go say ‘Hello’ to Grand Pop and he would hold out a quarter for me.

It didn’t relieve my fear; and shortly after – he passed on of a heart attack while sleeping, around age 62.

Growing up in a household with challenges of alcohol, prescription drugs, and brain damage (amongst family members), I am grateful I had a roof over my head, meals and got my High School diploma. I realized later on, one of my mom’s ways of expressing her love was to give money to her kids.
Initially, as a teenager and young adult, it angered me; because I felt I was being bought. As I got older, I realized it was her way of expressing her love.

So, when I entered 12-Step programs for Adult Children of Alcoholics and Overeaters Anonymous, I sent my sponsor a card one day. I wrote inside: ‘I feel you are worth the money I spent on the card and the stamp!’ She laughed when I told her that was worth all the gold in the world coming from me, with my strong budget-mindedness! Ha ha, she let me know she would cherish it.

When my friend sent me the e-mail the other day, I let her know some of the above information and responded with: AND HERE’S SOME CASH FOR YOU, TOO! I mean it, from the bottom of my heart!
I forwarded the e-mail to another friend that would understand, and sent her an e-mail with VIRTUAL CASH, from the bottom of my heart! She wrote back, ‘I LOVE you, too!’ *smile

When I got the Rice Heart the other day; I could accept it as a gift of LOVE from a local restaurant owner, along with her husband. Xay makes sure to prepare my food ‘just the way I like it!’ Even if Xay says he has to wash his hands to get all the hot pepper off after he makes it! I like my food No. 10, Thai Hot!

So, to all my friends reading this out there; here is some virtual cash, and I mean it, from the bottom of my heart!

Highlighted Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT
…have a virtual quarter and a Rice Heart to go along with it! I’m feeling generous!
Feel the LOVE!

Addendum: The GIFT of GIVING keeps on giving and giving and giving!

When I went to dine at Thai Palace for lunch, I let the owner and staff know I had written about them on my blog, due to their kindness. When I was done eating lunch, I passed two diners in a booth. The woman mentioned that her male friend admired that I was sitting in the booth with all the sunlight. He noted that I was glowing in the light. I said, WOW, I just wrote a blog on this very thing! I told her, ‘You made my day!’ I said: ‘I’ve been a bit down, because of the overcast weather, and you’ve given me a gift with that compliment!’ She smiled and thanked me. The, she noted that she knew me from a Summer event where I had my LAFOLOT table set up. She gave me ANOTHER gift by sharing that she still had my ‘Live Life! Laugh Often!’ bumper display on her vehicle! I was thrilled, and told her so. I told her I was feeling down that my message wasn’t getting out there, and she just assured me that it was!

So, when you give the gift of a compliment and noting how people have impacted your life in a positive way; it comes back to you ten times over!

Feel the love… in a compliment and sharing of a kind word!

Or should I say – getting through a menopausal, hormonal Helen kinda’ day? Oy Vey!
I feel like I’m on a scary Amusement Park ride with the ups and downs of the menopausal, hormonal cycle! Whew!

So, to start the day off, I got myself out of the house, to get myself ‘out of my mood’ and tried promoting myself, as far as being a singer, goes! Success, I made 4 new Helen of LAFOLOT sample singing demo CDs and dropped them off at 3 places! On the way to the one coffee house, I encountered some road construction. I like to ‘mess’ with construction folk when I drive by, to make their days a little more interesting. I’m SURE they love it! eh hem

On the way back home from the coffee house where I promoted my singing to the owner, I saw the heavy duty road equipment being maneuvered to place one of those cement segments used to redirect traffic on a highway. I saw them c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y trying to place the one concrete segment up against another. All I could think of is the old scenario where a person has a piano delivered and keeps telling the delivery guys to move it a little this way or that.

So, I rolled my window down to indicate that to the workers, but the equipment was too loud. Since no one was driving behind me, I slowly pulled up to the two workers, standing a little farther down the road, and hollered out the window; “I think they need to move that a Leeeeetle more to the left!” The workers smiled and laughed and I got out of there quickly. Ha Ha!

Then, as I approached the first stop light in the town/borough where I live; it was backed up a couple blocks. I rolled down my car window and put on my clown nose. I wanted to play with the guy who had his car hood open for maintenance while his girlfriend looked on. The traffic was stopped, so even though I didn’t end up getting their attention; a couple handymen working on the front porch of a house just behind my car saw what I was doing. I turned, and they were looking and laughing at me; poking my clown-nosed face out of the car window. Mission accomplished; I got a smile and laugh!

Well, being hormonal Helen, when I got home my mood instantly shifted from 0 to 60 and I got to make a fool of myself with the business dealings of all things. *sigh

Since I had a call from my accountant to pick up my tax forms, I thought it best to, once again, change my environment. I left to pick up the forms, review, sign and mail them. I headed over to my chiropractor appointment, he allowed me to ‘dump my frustrations’ about my hormonal mood swings and making a fool of myself on a daily basis. No extra charge!

Then, of course, I went to our local Red Robin restaurant to WALLOW in self-pity and order one of the mega-apple crisp with ice cream desserts!

Well, let me tell ‘ya! If you are ever ‘down in the dumps’ – go to a family/kid-oriented restaurant with birthday celebrations, a mingling mascot and balloon character artist! By the time I left that place, I was all smiles!

First, what luck! My server was a young, pregnant girl! I told her about my HORMONAL day and she said: no problem – I’m pregnant, I understand! I said, ‘thank goodness’ – so just ignore me if I snap at you. What a miracle this was!

Then, how wonderful, the Red Robin mascot was mingling with customers! Red Robin came over to my table. I had on my I LOVE TO LAFOLOT IT’S HEALTHY! Pin-back Button. I asked her if she remembered me from the summer when I met her at a park across the road. She had me stick my ‘LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN!’ Bumper sticker on her bird tail! She said YES! Giving me a Thumbs up with her mascot hands.

Then, it got really funny! She started talking to me through her mascot beak! I gave her some of my LAFOLOT Smiley Face bookmarks to hand out to folks. She thanked me, because she said there is a family that comes in often, and they have a young daughter with juvenile diabetes. She gave me a ‘thumbs up’, because she likes giving gifts out to folks.

She got her box of goodies and gave me a GUMMY WORM! Hooray! I told her how I like worms, because they loosen the soil and help crops. She gave me a Red Robin thumbs up! We were talking more – her through her beak, and I laughed. I said it reminded me of the ‘GET SMART’ television show where ‘Agent 86’ used to talk to his informant ‘Heimie’ – who would hide in building air vents, etc. I told her she was an UNDER-COVER BIRD! This RUFFLED HER FEATHERS! Ha Ha

So she continued her mingling. When a dad came in with his wife and 3 daughters, she went to their table. She gave one of my smiley bookmarks to the mom, I think. I saw the mom and dad looking at it curiously. Why had Red Robin given them a LAFOLOT bookmark? Ha Ha

I got up and went over to explain. They laughed. I gave them 4 of my ‘REFLECT A SMILE’ Popsicle sticks that have a little mirror glued on the end. I told them all the silly uses for it, and they got a kick out of the gifts.

Then, a woman came to my table and said her mom was getting jealous and curious, wanting to know what I was handing out! WOW! I FOUND A NEW PLACE TO MARKET LAFOLOT! So, I got out some bookmarks, singing business cards, my LAFOLOT pamphlet and I still had a REFLECT A SMILE Popsicle stick. This lady was great! She said she was very aware of the health effects of laughter and we exchanged all our knowledge.

I showed her how to do my friend Kelly’s ‘Clap Clap Stomp Stomp Wiggle Wiggle’ remove snow before you go in the house dance. I told her where to find it at: www.youtube.com/Helenoflafolot
She told me she still loves to catch snowflakes on her tongue. I said, ‘Don’t forget jumping in puddles!’ ‘Or, through piles of leaves!’ she shared.

She had to run to the women’s room, so I went over to her mom at their booth. I only had the I LOVE TO LAFOLOT it’s Healthy! Button I was wearing. I asked her mom if she would like it? Her face lit up and she said ‘Yes!’ I gave her the pin. When I saw them leaving the restaurant, her mom was wearing the pin!

By the time I left Red Robin restaurant, I didn’t need the mega dessert. My mood had pleasantly shifted.
There’s a book by Don Miguel Ruiz called ‘The Four Agreements’. He notes that each day we do our best. Some days, our best is better than other days, but as long as we do our best, there’s no need to beat ourselves up. So, with all the hormonal Helen moments going on today; I guess I have to say I made many efforts to TURN IT AROUND and in the end got: ROCKIN’ WITH ROCKIN’ ROBIN and the rest of the gang!

Live Life! Laugh Often!
Live Life in a-MAZE-ment!
This has been a Ha Ha Highlighted Helen of LAFOLOT series of moments…
www.lafolot.com

Well! It’s never too late to ‘turn the beat around’ or switch to a new channel!

If you don’t like what’s on your personal life station, pick a new radio frequency or channel!

I shared with folks, I was going to get rid of my television cable service, which I did on February 8, 2010. I had taken early retirement in order to focus on starting my own business, a year earlier. I found it was too easy to avoid my business focus; and watch the all day television marathons of my favorite crime solving shows!

Well, it took some adjustment, but I started to move in a positive direction! Just the other week, I finally focused on using my Interior Design skills to create a new environment in my home. My philosophy as far as Interior Design has always been to go against the grain. I encourage people to use rooms and space the way THEY need to, not the way society says to. For example, in one home I owned, the dining room was my ‘music and movement’ room. I didn’t need a dining room table, I don’t cook and entertain at home, so I made the room work for my clarinet practice, singing and exercise equipment!

So, in my condo, which has a beautiful view of a church, cemetery, beautiful gray stone wall surrounding the cemetery, as well as a couple Locust trees along the wall; I’ve taken advantage of the view!
Not being attached to a television, any longer; I SWITCHED MY VIEWING CHANNEL!

I have now switched to the OUTSIDE CHANNEL, which makes insides (spiritually speaking) a lot happier and calmer. I moved my comfortable sofa, which was always planted in front of the television, to the dining room; which has sliding glass doors looking out over the peaceful view! I get to relax or lie on the sofa and watch the OUTSIDE show! This morning, there were crows flying across the cemetery towards the Locust trees; there were big, white fluffy snowflakes slowly wafting down to the ground. I can sit there and prepare items for my LAFOLOT business; while enjoying the natural light and soft view.

So, as I shared in my WAVBYBY writing, even though I have switched to this new channel, without cable television, sometimes I focus my view in the wrong direction, get stuck on the wrong channel and react emotionally. The nice thing about switching to the wrong channel; you can always turn off the station or switch to another channel and turn the beat around!

This happened today! As I pulled into my local post office to mail some cards to my sister who is in a nursing home; I encountered a gentleman exiting his car. I instantly shared a smile. He smiled back, so I got to give myself a point with my Ha Ha Helen SMILE CAMPAIGN game!

Then, a wonderful bit of synchronicity happened; I saw a friend I know from my church who also works at a local high school. She saw me and we exchanged smiles and hellos! I told her how I had just gotten a POINT by sharing a smile with the man who had gotten out of his car. She responded: ‘Yes! When he looked in my direction, and was smiling, it made ME smile! ‘ I said: ‘That’s it! That’s what I teach! When I shared the warmth of a smile brightening his and my day; it automatically traveled over to you, brightening your day!’ She said: Yes! It did! After that, she encountered a long line at the post office counter, and her day turned around when she came back out to find me at the self-serve postal machine. She watched me get postage for my package; and as a result was able to quickly get postage for her international card she was sending to Ireland! We got to make the gentleman waiting behind us laugh. When she was done, I let her know we could go over to the self-serve counter to allow the gentleman behind us to use the ‘weigher device’. Ha Ha! I couldn’t think of the word; she laugh, he laughed, I laughed and she said: ‘Scale?’

So we all left in a good mood. Then, when I exited the building, I automatically smiled at a young man crossing the parking lot, heading into the post office. He not only smiled, he said: ‘Hello’ That got me two points, in my smile game!

Then, a wonderful thing happened! With all the issues I was having the previous day with my neighbor’s visitors parking in my space and me allowing it to get to me, getting emotional etc. (I had been feeling frustrated with myself over it all…)

The young guy asked if the car next to his truck was mine? I said: ‘No, mine is the one with the LAFOLOT sign on the side.’ He laughed and went into the post office. I then realized, that due to the tight parking situation in the post office lot, he had no choice and his passenger side of his truck was almost blocking the entrance into the driver side door of the vehicle beside him.

I thought to myself! Wow! I have definitely SWITCHED to a NEW Channel! It’s like this day was a total opposite of yesterday!

When I went to lunch and read my daily meditation magazine it talked about STOPPING and TURNING a moment around by becoming more aware. It talked about ‘ELIMINATING’ negative talk and thoughts, even if we have to stop ourselves in mid-sentence!

I have a note at the top of my website: ‘A little kindness goes a long way.’ This day was filled with kindness from me to others and from others to me.

This reminded me of the scene in the Wizard of OZ where the witch causes Dorothy and her friends to fall asleep before reaching OZ by placing a field of poppies in their path. Then, the good witch has white, fluffy snowflakes fall over the poppy field which gently awakes and brings AWARENESS back to Dorothy and her friends, so they can get to The Land of OZ and realized, everything they needed, was inside them all along.

Today – falling from the clouds, were white, fluffy, snowflakes – helping to SWITCH THE CHANNEL and turn things around in a positive, healthy direction.

Ha Ha, Highlighted Helen of LAFOLOT
www.lafolot.com
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Live life in a-MAZE-ment!
helenoflafolot@yahoo.com

Oh goodie! Another life lesson to learn!

Upon leaving my house for an appointment, this morning, I noticed there was a vehicle parked in another condo owner’s numbered space, knowing it wasn’t theirs. Why would this catch my attention? While I am mindful of other condo owner’s numbered spaces, making sure I tell visitors to either park in my spot or an unnumbered spot I have not had the same courtesy offered to me. I have even had a fellow condo owner come knocking on my door, making an assumption my company was in her space, when it was from one of 54 plus other units in our development.

I know, it’s like a bad sitcom, becoming obsessed with parking spaces! (Gotta Laugh!) So, what did I do? YES! I allowed it to bother me and make me buggy and irritable! That’s so Ha Ha Helen of me!

After my appointment, I headed to lunch at my favorite Thai Palace restaurant. There was only one other car in the parking lot. The car had the license plate: WAVBYBY I had to smile as I saw it, thinking of the toddler phrase.

When I entered the restaurant, I saw a woman getting her takeout order. I asked: ‘Is that your WAVBYBY license plate out there?’ She smiled, saying ‘yes’. I said, as I did a toddler wave: BYE BYE, BYE BYE. She laughed, saying: ‘THAT’s what most people do!’ So I had a nice, tasty lunch.

As I was heading back home, driving past a store parking lot, a couple was loading their child into their car when a helium balloon had gotten loose and was flying away, into the sky. Wave Bye Bye! I thought, and smiled as I continued to drive.

Just then, at an intersection, a Human Waste Collection/Disposal truck had just pulled out ahead of me. It’s one of those trucks that maintains Porto Potties on job sites, etc. I was driving down the road for about a half-mile till I smiled and started to laugh out loud! A vehicle used to remove WASTE, ELIMINATION! AH HA HA HA HA – Wave Bye Bye! I laughed out loud. The number was 1-877-RESTROOM! HA HA

I thought! Wow! What a funny way to get a life-lesson or spiritual message to me, for the day! Was I being told to: LET IT GO! ELIMINATE unnecessary, obsessive thinking? A WAVBYBY license plate, a fly-a-way helium balloon and a human waste collection truck; I guess when you become a certified laughter leader, your life lesson synchronistic messages come to you with a sense of humor!

As I got farther down the road, I saw a sign at a gas station that had in bold, black letters: PERFECTION! Ah! I thought! Okay, I got it! Then, as traffic was paused for a traffic light a block away from me; I saw a woman sitting on her front porch. I rolled down the car window, put on my clown nose, she looked, looked away, then looked back again. She laughed! I ‘waved bye bye’ as traffic started to move due to the light changing.

So, did I learn my lesson? NOooooooo way! I’m not laughing at myself. When I got home, my neighbor’s first visitor had moved out of another neighbor’s parking space, and guess what; she had a new visitor now conveniently parked in MY space! So I parked in an unnumbered spot and placed a nicely worded note card on the car under the wiper blade. I just noted that the condo owner they were visiting should let them know to park in the unnumbered spots.

Well, I just couldn’t get the message and LET IT GO. The neighbor’s visitor came out and I tried explaining that the woman she was visiting had lived there for nine years and should let her know where to park. Things got ugly. She moved the car. What can I say – I am not happy with my handling of the situation. Like I said, makes for good sitcom material!

I guess I need more WAVBYBY license plates, fly-a-way balloons and 1-877-RESTROOM trucks till I get the gist of it! Maybe I need a truckload of waste to dump on me before I let go of the parking space obsession. CAREFUL WHAT I WISH FOR!

Live and learn.
LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN!
Always in the process of learning… Helen
www.lafolot.com
[this blog can also be seen at Vibrant Nation - a networking website for women over 50.]

There’s a local art gallery near me that has monthly showings open to the public. It features a specific artist’s work; allows you to meet the other local artists; allows for mingling and networking, etc. It’s great, because you get to meet the artist whose original work you have purchased and tell them why YOU like it!

Since I’ve taken early retirement and am focusing on growing my own business; I’m not able to purchase additional art, but still like to go and mingle and be supportive. I’ve also reached a point in life, not having worn eyeglasses till I reached age 40 (for driving), that I have to wear tri-focals!

Tri-focals, what wonderful things! For someone who hadn’t worn glasses most their life, I can be a real fussy baby about having to wear them now. Originally, I just needed the additional help for ‘distance’ while driving, but now that I’ve reached 5* (ha ha) in Earth years *smile – I find the tri-focals are necessary.

So, there I was this past Saturday, mingling at the Art Gallery, networking, talking and joking with the various artists. Working the gallery owner so he’ll allow me to be a future featured, singer for an event; and I stopped to look at a painting hanging slightly above my height, on the wall.

So starts the Trifocal dance! I am moving my head in an upward and downward motion, trying to pick the best viewing lens to view the piece of art. Also, as I am stepping forward and backward, while moving my head up and down; I am trying to see the work of art clearly. This is a real challenge for someone not used to wearing glasses!

So, I am there, moving head up and down; walking forward and backward, getting a bit frustrated; when I notice the artist standing just back and to my right. He had a fellow artist standing next to him, as they watched me IN FULL ADMIRATION AND STUDY OF HIS PAINTING! So they thought…

Ha Ha! I know the young artist from having spoken to him before. He is a lovely soul and I DO like his work. I turned, smiled, laughed and said: “OH! You must think I am really into this painting?” “I guess, it looks like I am thinking: umm hmmm , umm hummm Yes! I LOVE it! – as I study the painting walking to and from and nodding Yes, Yes, umm hmm umm hmmm.” I am so sorry – it’s these darn trifocals! I can’t seem to get a good focus!” ha ha ha

Knowing me, he smiled and laughed. I said: ‘I guess I shouldn’t have said anything and allowed you to be thrilled with someone being in such admiration of your work! We all had a good laugh. I DID like the work!

So, once again, here’s to assumptions, comical as they may be! Trifocal challenges OR Umm Hmmm, YES! I LOVE IT!

Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Living life in a-MAZE-ment!
www.lafolot.com

I think, sometimes, life throws blocks in our path to stir up the pot. It gets us to get out of a rut and change our direction; take a turn towards a different road.

Having taken early retirement in January of 2009, it’s been an adjustment working from home. It’s very easy to sleep in, lounge around in ‘jammies’, and get caught up in computer games or all day television show marathons!

I took the bull by the horns to help with the budget of both my money and time. I got rid of my television cable connection! But, the computer (while I use it for my business) is still there for the games; which are a great distraction when finding a reason not to work!

So, I had to laugh, this morning! I have had challenges with my internet service provider since I first went with them almost two years ago. It seems the internet connection goes down between 2:00-7:00am every day! Yes, I have called and called and called… did I say I called; over and over. This has not helped. Because I like the speed, extra services provided, and not wanting to have to change, I have stayed with them. Well, this morning, the connection was down till after 8:00am and continued to be unstable after that. [Oh! I also discovered a great use for GIBBERISH when trying to get past the electronic voice prompt, that won't allow you to talk to a live person. I started to talk nonsense/giggerish, which caused her to say: 'I'm sorry, I don't understand you.' This caused her to put me through to the Live Tech Support person queue!] HA HA!

Of course, I had plenty of other things to do! But my focus was on the internet connection. Yes, the thought came to mind: ‘Helen, this is a gift, now you can get focused on those non-internet, work related things you need to do. *cough, laugh, eh hem Right! Not getting the message, I phased out playing some non-internet computer games! I’m a tough one to get the hint!

So that was my first BLOCK of the day, trying to conk me on the head to give me the message to MOVE IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION! Step away from the computer, so to speak.

I decide to shower and then go to lunch and do grocery shopping. I had been putting off grocery shopping for 3 days. I conveniently kept forgetting. I was out of breakfast foods, this morning, as a result. So, I get myself out of the house and start to drive out of my condo development. It has a curved driveway with a stop sign at either exit. Well, second BLOCK! We have a condo owner who lives on the corner by the one exit. This woman has a habit of stopping people in their cars, leaning in their passenger windows and talking, talking, talking. This blocks the exit. So THERE SHE WAS, I had to beep my horn and she just looked at me. Finally, the driver pulled over a bit. The really funny thing is that there are many parking spaces where these people can pull in to talk to her, but they just sit at the exit by the stop sign.

So, grumbling as I was finally able to pull around her, I kept my mind, stopped at the stop sign and made use of the STOP and SMILE (taking a deep breath) technique at several other stop signs, once I started on my journey. I didn’t want to let the internet BLOCK and the driver talking BLOCK ruin my day.

I got to one of my favorite dining spots, ‘ISAACS’ and had a pleasant lunch. Upon leaving the restaurant, there was a car parked two spaces from me with the license plate: LAFNLAF I looked at it and HAD TO LAUGH and SMILE! I still wasn’t getting the messages about the BLOCKS, but I had to laugh that some sort of lesson or message was coming my way!

So I drive over to the grocery store and have a successful shopping experience. I even gave a Smiley Face bookmark to a cashier who smiled back at me when I was starting to exit the store! I told her about my smile campaign, being a laughter leader, etc.

BLOCK 3 – I’m trying to leave the store and there is a woman in front of me with a MEGA cart totally filled! She had to use all available muscles to push the cart. Glued to her side is her teenage daughter, tagging along as if behind a momma duck. As a result, the exit was very slow, due to the oversized, overstuffed cart, slow movement and the daughter in close proximity hugging her mother’s every move.

When I finally got to my car and unloaded my few groceries, just as I was unlocking my driver side door, a car pulls behind me BLOCKING my exit from my parking space! BLOCK 4! I look and it is a ‘senior gentleman’ sitting and waiting for specific parking space 3 spaces back from the main lane. It wasn’t a handicap spot, I guess he just wanted THAT particular spot. Problem was, the person in the space had an oversized, overstuffed cart and was slowly unloading their groceries. They weren’t even ready to pull out of their space! But, there he sat, waiting and waiting. I beeped to get his attention and signal him to move forward. He must have been hard of hearing, I beeped a second time and he continued to sit, determined to get his selected spot. Maybe it had sentimental value to him?

So, I started to get the gist of all the BLOCKS I was having fall into my path. I had received 4 BLOCKS thus far, today. Now that I have four blocks, I can actually start to BUILD on these blocks! Oh, yes! Another message I received was when I sat down to read my daily meditation while dining out for lunch. It mentioned about, you guessed it, interferences in life being opportunities! HA HA

So, I guess now I’m going to have to take all these ‘earlier seeming’ irritating BLOCKS; turn them into BUILDING BLOCKS, and see what interesting thing I can create out of them!

Excuse me, now I’m going to go play with my BUILDING BLOCKS! 

This has been a Highlighted Helen moment…
Live life in A-MAZE-MENT!
www.lafolot.com

On Sunday, February 21, 2010; I will offically head over the half-century mark for my age!

I feel I have done a very good job, thus far – living my life! There have been challenges, surprises, growth spurts (in many areas); and many awakened moments!

Being Ha Ha Helen, Highlighted Helen, Hollywood Helen (depending on my latest endeavor), I have decided to create a NEW indicator for how many ‘Earth-birth-years’ (ha ha) I have gone over the half-century mark!

Just like the ‘Artist formerly known as Prince’, when he created a symbol for himself versus a name; I have decided my new age indicator will be: drum roll ….

5*
As I go into the next ‘Earth-labeled-birth-year’ I am just going to add another STAR or ASTERISK!

How wonderful! As my body matures, and I continue to LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN! I will keep adding more stars, or more LIGHT!

So, next year I will be: 5**
The next year I will be: 5*** (I’ll just keep adding star light!)

JUST THINK! After awhile, I will be: 5********* I think I’ll be a super nova in ‘over 50′ years! HA HA!

Also, with 5 translating to the word HA, in Thai; my age will always start out with a laugh and then be followed with LOTS OF LIGHT!

So, with my creative, interesting, mind the way it is; I am officially creating the:

HA HA HELEN OF LAFOLOT – LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN! ENLIGHTENED GROWTH INDICATOR! AHAHAHAHAHAA*******

So, on Sunday – I am wishing myself a HAPPY 5*, and what the heck, I’ll add a few !!!!!!! on to that, too!

soon to be… HAPPY BIRTHDAY HA HA HELEN OF LAFOLOT …. 5*
LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN!
www.lafolot.com
…and may you live to be 5************************************************ and all YOUR dreams come true!
What a shining light we’ll all become!

In keeping in line with my ‘Life is a Song in the Key of Love’ book, I practice what I preach. I openly approach people and talk to them, if I want to educate myself.

So, I went to my favoritie Thai Palace restaurant, for lunch. The restaurant wasn’t that crowded. I had set an intention to give ‘compliments’ to people, today. I encountered a woman sitting at a table and let her know the bright pink jacket she was wearing was beautiful! She thanked me and ended up wearing a beautiful smile with the jacket!

I then got to sit in one of my favorite booths, near a window with bright sunshine pouring in! Ahhh, feel the warmth! I was content. One of my favorite servers Heli, who happens to be from Indonesia, came back to take my order. Having talked to Heli quite a bit, I learned she is from Indonesia, is Budhist and is traveling back to Indonesia this Sunday, February 21, 2010 – due to the family going back to support a sick Aunt. I learned the family is very tight and supportive, because Heli had to give up finishing her last college class to make this trip. She will take the course after a year, when they return. The trip from Harrisburg, PA to Indonesia will be 24 hours long!

So, since we have had very cold weather and 2 major snow storms over the past two week, I openly asked Heli if the weather in Indonesia is warm? She noted it is warm there all the time. I told her I knew she’d be happy about that, because the cold and snow have really gotten to her!

As a result of our open conversation, a woman sitting with her husband at a booth two seats away from me joined in. Heli went to get my drink and the woman said: ‘Wow! Indonesia!’ Being Ha Ha Helen, I took the opportunity to pick up a conversation with them. I asked if they knew Heli was from Indonesia, they said they hadn’t know that.

I noticed the woman’s head was shaved. This is where I began to learn a valuable lesson, don’t make assumptions. Being a very empathetic person, and a teacher of Laughter Yoga/Wellness, I wanted to do something for the woman. I AUTOMATICALLY ASSUMED the woman was going through chemotherapy treatments or something of that sort. I knew I had some LAFOLOT supplies in my car, so I ran out to my Subaru Outback back hatch and put together a LAFOLOT FUN KIT! I wanted this woman to have ’stess reliever pinwheels’, a ‘cheering flag’, a Live Life! Laugh Often! t-shirt, a ‘Live Life! Laugh Often!’ magnetic bumper display, etc etc. I wanted to give her all I could to help heal her through her challenge.

So – open mouth insert foot! I walk up to their table with my LAFOLOT Fun Kit and say: ‘Forgive my boldness, but are you going through chemotherapy?’ She responded: ‘No’ but that’s OK. I said: ‘Oh! Well! In that case, I teach laughter wellness and was going to give you this fun kit to help you through it all; but since you’re not – you may as well take it anyway!’ ha ha She laughed and smiled! She said: ‘SURE!’ I started to pull the stuff out and show her what she could do with all the items. She was THRILLED with her UNEXPECTED, SURPRISE GIFT!

So, being used to making a fool of myself, I just went back to my booth. I called over, “It’s like Christmas all over again!” She said: ‘Yes! It’s great!’ I said: ‘I teach the gift is in the giving, so if you want to pass any of it on, go right ahead!’ She said: ‘Can I contact you via your website?’ I said: ‘Yes!’

A few seconds later, she slightly turned back towards me in her booth seat and said: ‘I’m Budhist, by the way!’ I said, ‘Wow! Isn’t that great? This could be a great promotional slogan: Be Budhist, Get A Gift!’ She turned, and laughed, agreeing with me!
I told her it kinda reminded me of the ’smiling Budha’s I have seen. She agreed.

So, it never hurts to just be open and ASK! Never know what it will get you. As a result of allowing myself to come across a bit foolish, I made her day with a LAFOLOT Fun Kit! I learned not to jump to conclusions just because someone has a shaved head, and – as a result! Here’s the great part! As she was leaving, she came back to me and gave me her business card. She is a newly established photographer: AMIDA Photography – Celebrating the Light [www.amidaphotography.com] She offered, in exhange for the fun kit I gave her, to take a complimentary business photograph of me!

How great is that! Be the type of person that openly approaches people and hands out gifts? Get a complimentary photograph. Be Budhist and sport a shaved head; get a gift! The other wonderful thing is, I got to practice the ‘Steve Wilson Principles of Good Hearted Living’ – Compliments and Forgiveness. I got to forgive myself, and being Budhist Amida openly accepted me ‘just as I was’ and SHE RECEIVED A GIFT! Talk about the practice of ‘being mindful and living in the present!’ I think she has it down pat!

So, as I discuss in my laughter yoga/wellness program; as well as in my book ‘Life is a Song in the Key of Love’ – open up and communicate. You never know what you’ll learn about someone. It may be awkward at first; but with good intentions, it all works out in the end!

Namaste’
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT …living in the moment
a.k.a. Highlighted Helen living BOLD and in Italics!