LAFOLOT

Here the ‘CAW CAW!’ call of the Universe! 

Life isn’t ‘just for the birds’.    

Look at LIFE from a PHresh Outlook! That’s the message I share; because I care!

Sometimes you need to just ‘take a moment’ for yourself. To just be you!

Sometimes you need to get away from it all, and rePHresh!

That is the message I was reminded of, today, while walking and driving through a grocery store parking lot.

The FIRST personalized license plate I saw was: JUST BU
The SECOND one I saw noted: GO AWAY
The THIRD one I saw noted: LIL BIT

I like to encourage people to BE AWARE, STAY ALERT and BE SAFE when out on the roads by TAKING NOTICE of what is going on around them.

Today’s message for ME was: GO AWAY for a LITTLE BIT and JUST BE YOU!

SPIRITIUAL? RELIGIOUS? Just a SMART THING TO DO? Maybe ‘get out to the dessert, or beach, or just be aware on the road and STAY IN the GIFT of the PRESENT. No matter HOW you approach it; NOW is the TIME to DO IT.

TAKE some TIME for yourself right now.
For a LITTLE BIT.
JUST BE YOU.
*breathe in – breathe out – SMILE.

LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN!
See LIFE from a PHresh Outlook.

HA HA Helen of LAFOLOT

There is a lot (I mean A LOT) of mega, road, sewage, water-line work being done on the roads in the area where I live. Much of it is occurring directly outside my living development; as well as a quarter mile up the road. The community was notified and pre-warned of long delays. Sometimes, it’s a 10 minute wait while traffic is slowly allowed through one-lane driving.

Being human, not everyone deals with it well from day to day. I am human. I can honestly say I got annoyed twice, during the process. Then, I have to laugh at myself. I have used different Outlook Shift Engineering (LAFOLOT.COM Style) processes to help me adapt. One of the highlights was riding down the road (having to drive slowly, anyway) – and holding one of my PINWHEEL STRESS RELIEVER TOOLS out the window as I drove. This helped me, and may have helped folks waiting in in the long, stopped line of traffice, heading in the opposite direction.

TODAY! As I turned a corner to pass the 2nd of two roadworkers who hold the SLOW and STOP signs on a pole – the TIMING WAS PERFECT!

I happened to be the last car through the line that was being let through the single lane of traffic. The temperatures have been in the mid-40s (fahrenheit) – so it’s been chilly for the road workers to stand outside.

As I turned the corner to encounter the 2nd road worker – STOPping the traffic coming in the opposite direction; I saw him standing with his head down and back to me.

THE TIMING allowed me to:

1) Roll down my car window
2) Quickly call out: ‘AWWW… DON’T CRY.’
3) The road worker heard me, LIFTED his head, SMILED as he said: ‘IT’S A BAD DAY.’ (But, the break in his routine from my comment and noticing, allowed him to put a SMILE on his face.)

About an hour and one half later, I was heading back in the opposite direction to return home.

THE TIMING WAS PERFECT! There was no one in front nor behind me on the road!

1) I was able to electrically roll down my PASSENGER side window, this time.
2) Driving slowly through the construction zone; I was able to PUT ON MY CLOWN NOSE!
3) I ‘JUST HAPPENED’ to have 2 PINWHEEL STRESS RELIEVER TOOLS on my passenger seat!
4) I HELD THE PINWHEEL OUT THE WINDOW – wearing my clown nose – and handed it to the road worker!
5) HE REMEMBERED ME … HE TOOK THE PINWHEEL … HE GOT A BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE …
6) As I continued on and looked in my rearview car mirror – I SAW HIM HOLDING IT, BLOWING THE PINWHEEL, WITH A BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE!

WHAT TIMING! PERFECT TIMING! A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY to be able to ‘take the TIME to TURN someone’s day around!’

HA HA Helen of LAFOLOT.com – happy to be able to make-up for the TIMES I wasn’t smiling going through the construction zone.

Are you feeling as if you are lacking in abundance, prosperity, opportunity or success?  I know I tend to go to that ‘off’ thinking and ‘off’ vision from time to time.

I had some interesting life challenges? … or were they ‘opportunities for change’ thrown my way, over the last four years.  Initially, I hit the ground running, and felt rePHreshed!  As time went on, I fell into a place of lack, financially, successfully, and opportunistically!

Well, in the process of ‘downsizing’ as a result of it all, I moved into a manufactured home park; that was being restructured from a trailer park; to homes for retirees.   On the one hand, I felt ‘freedom’ would eventually come from debt; on the other hand I felt lacking.

My first Outlook Shift Engineering moment came when I started to find BRICKS slightly hidden in the lot around my home.  ’WOW!’  I thought, ‘Now I can do some landscaping, and it won’t cost me anything!”

Next, in the midst of the ‘mis-visioned darkness’; my young neighbors gave me their mulch that they didn’t want!  ’WOW!’ I thought – another opportunity to landscape and beautify my lot, even though I didn’t have the money to do so!’

As I continued to ‘get out of my home’, stop sulking, get out of the mis-focused dark vision of my situation – I discovered more and more ABUNDANCE and OPPORTUNITY!

As I got out and socialized, I found opportunities for my business in unexpected places!

As I got up and started to clean around my home; I found items I hadn’t decided to ‘give away’, that allowed me to feel prosperous!

As I got out and started to weed the lawn, I discovered MORE TREASURES, hiding in the soil amidst the weeds!  I found ‘GROUND COVER’ – FLOWERING GROUND COVER – growing along my driveway!

As I started to examine it, this evening, I discovered more and more plants hiding between the grass and weeds that had grown around it!

I now have a nice patch of flowering ground cover growing along my driveway, and I’ve given it ‘room to grow’!

I found Morning Glory flower seeds at a local store, marked down to seventy cents, a few weeks ago!  I put them in the ground, near the bricks I had used to make a visually pleasing border on my home’s lot.  I now have at least 3 to 4 inches of new growth, and the plants are climbing up the trellis I hadn’t given away, and had brought with me!

Sometimes, we just have to clear the dirty lenses, shift our focus, and see DELIGHT!  It’s all around, even in the ground!

AH! HA!  Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.com – Outlook Shift Engineer! Hear! Here!

Live Life! Laugh Often!

I always found it an interesting observation about the nature of addict behavior. We might judge an addict as not caring about their life; when, if you look closely, there’s a perfectionism about the mis-management of the life.

Coming from a family of addicts, I got to personally view a lot of interesting behavior, as well as my own through continuing to become aware, feel, and heal.

For example, I have 3 sets of neighbors who are meticulous in maintaining their homes! These are ‘good’ people! Hard working! Good parents and grandparents. I ‘see the love’ and ‘healthy interaction’ when the children and grandkids come to visit. Then there is, in all 3 households, the addiction of tobacco smoke use.

With all this meticulous detail to the External Physical Environment, to the kids, grandkids, to the dedication to the employment, there’s the Lack of Awareness and Concern for the INTERNAL PHYSICAL self.

I learned, through 12 step programs, to separate the different aspects of a person with addictions. It’s how I came to appreciate the ‘other qualities’ of my own mom, separate from her abuse of alcohol.

It saddened me to observe the one family openly smoking in front of their grandchildren the other day. One particular moment involved the 2 year old REACHING UPWARD for ‘Grandma’s’ cigarette – as if it were candy or a toy! Why couldn’t she have it? She wondered. The grandma not being aware of what was being taught to the toddler. The grandma not being AWARE of the gaseous-smoke being wafted around the child’s play area.

Yesterday, I observed one of the other couples, sitting on their front porch, loving and enjoying the company of the newest grandchild, less than a year old, sitting on the grandma’s lap. Both grandparents smoke and were actively smoking with the baby there.

Again, meticulous house, would protect that baby’s physical self in a heartbeat. Would jump in front of a moving train, yet the ADDICTION blinding the harm it is inflicting on the baby. I’ve seen the same with the addiction to white flower/sugar/grease/fat. A mother actively ingesting 2 cookies while sitting at a local sandwhich shop; handfeeding them to the toddler, and then purchasing a dozen more to take with them. Having an issue with that myself, I had a strong feeling those cookies wouldn’t make it home.

Another instance, I observed a mother allowing a child to actively just eat the butter out of the butter packets, one after the other, at a local restaurant. Addictions come in all shapes and sizes at an early age. Addiction or the body starving for proper nutrition? I couldn’t say.

The Department of Health put up Billboards, years back, showing how ODD, SICKLY etc. persons look, who smoke tobacco. They were trying to bring awareness.

I have a new thought or suggestion to the Department of Health. Perhaps if they put up billboards – graphically showing the harmful smoke being wafted across the faces of the Babies, Children, Pets, Wildlife (graphically – not a true photo) – it would AWAKE the addicts?

But then again, WHAT AM I SAYING? The only person that can change the habits of an addict, are the addicts themselves.

BEing, sitting, and observing – LIFE in action … or DESTRUCTION?

i n t e r e s t i n g …

I’m not a parent, I don’t have children, I can only observe and ponder, not judge, as I wonder. I see the external, physical love of ENVIRONMENT and the CARING of the INTERNAL SELF for self and other ‘loved’ ones going UP – IN – SMOKE.

Helen

There’s a familiar phrase, waiting in breathless anticipation!
It’s that moment of quick inhaling, in anticipation of a moment. The moment can be expecting a good surprise, or being in a state of fear or questioning an outcome.

I talk about this when I present my ‘Laughter? Let’s Get Serious!’ laughter wellness programs. What comes after the quick inhale of breath; is the exhale of relief. This can be translated to a HAaaaaa as in laughter response, a scream, a chuckle, or further short breaths/shallow breathing – when running away in fear.

I recently, finally, sold a condo I had chosen to release in May 2010. In 2008, I had stepped up, let go of my childhood fears of my oldest sister (hit by a drunk driver at age 20 (1967), permanently brain damaged, living in rent-controlled housing). I had to release my fear of her brain seizure, emotional anger, unexpected outbursts, I experienced as an 8 year old – and help her out through her new life crisis. I am blessed I had gone through one-on-one, group and 12 step program counseling. I was able to relate to her in a healthy way, state my bounderies, do her grocery shopping for her and her husband, to help them out. She had lived on her own, managed her own life, with her new challenges, but diabetes caused a new type of seizures and breaking down of her life adaptations.

From there, she agreed to allow me to be her power of attorney, due to going in and out of emergency rooms, hospital stays, a rehab stay and needing to get into assisted living for medication management and an easier, calmer lifestyle. Long story short, it was hell for her, her mentally challenged husband and I feel I was channeling MICHAEL, ARCHANGEL to stand up for her rights and get her through the major shock in her life!

This made me relook at my life, I let go of a $72,000/year State Government tech support job of 28 1/2 years, decided to downsize (let go of the 30 year condo mortgage), establish my LAFOLOT.com business, let go of my television in February 2009, and get out of a cubical environment to get out there and help my sister, myself and activate and share all my right brain creativity to help others. I felt there was more to life to living.

Breathless anticipation? I discovered, this morning, while sitting at my home computer – I had STARTED to take DEEP BREATHS again! I feel, that like a cat – slinking down, and taking short, quick breaths while zeroing in on, and focusing to catch a bird, mouse, etc. – in 2008, I had gone into an EXTENDED STATE of short, shallow breathing in BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION of the next CRISIS, the next SHOE TO DROP, the next PHONE CALL emergency…

I am grateful for an older sister who stepped in to help with the medical power of attorney for my oldest sister. I am grateful for a younger sister who took over Power of Attorney for my elderly mom, who passed on June 29 – as well as all her additional sacrifice and help in dealing with my oldest sister.

I tell people I teach what I need to learn, and share because I care. I FORGET, and I feel we ALL FORGET to take those DEEP CLEANSING BREATHS while we are in crisis.

But, also, as the KRAZY KAT LADY who learns a lot from watching her 3 cats; there’s a PURPOSE for the BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION … it puts one in the ability to POUNCE in order to survive, stay alive. The lession is to know WHEN to START BREATHING AGAIN.

Evidently, my body felt it was SAFE to start breathing again ….

Living, and Learning … day by day … moment by moment … breathing … breathing … IN GRATITUDE for all the help and support.

Healing, Highlighted, HA HA Helen of LAFOLOT.com
Breathe in with an AHHHHH! and release with a HAAAAAAAA…. repeat.

I had to laugh while driving down the road, just a bit ago!
I saw 3 to 4 Blackbirds near phone or electrical wires along the road.
I had slowed down to stop at a traffic light.

First, I saw one blackbird slowly LEVITATE slightly off the wire, and navigate itself to the left of a sitting blackbird.

Then, I saw the sitting blackbird, slowly LEVITATE and navigate itself to the right of ANOTHER sitting blackbird!

Big LAUGH OUT LOUD! I had to chuckle while I saw these blackbirds do a FEATHERY FUN VERSION of THE SHELL GAME!

DRIVING MYSELF HAPPY! There’s so much to notice and experience while DRIVING down the ROAD; or DRIVING along in the ROAD OF LIFE!

When I had been driving UP the road EARLIER … I noticed a young man walking and TEXTING –
looking down – not noticing the beautiful blue sky above with the white, puffy clouds.

He was walking exactly next to a grassy embankment where I had previous noticed two groundhogs PLAYING PADDY CAKE, PADDY CAKE … (OK, they were probably fighting, but it looked like PADDY CAKE!)

There are so many MAGICAL experiences occurring around us and in LIFE – it we KEEP OUR FOCUS DOWN
(I am often guilty of this …) we MISS THE MAGIC, THE GIFTS!

As I NAVIGATE through a time in my life that I would RATHER NOT be experiencing – some days feeling down – I miss the gifts! I said to myself, while turning into my manufactured home development – “REMEMBER YOUR EXPERIENCES AT THIS TIME, HELEN, THEY’LL COME IN HANDY, LATER!” Mental note!

I’m working parttime jobs, working with people from all areas of life, in all life challenges and experiences. I recall a prayer from support programs, that ends: THANK GOD I’M NOT WHERE I USED TO BE!

When I recall that statement, I realize how blessed I am. I may be in a temporary downhill, or currently COASTING pattern – but I SEE THE LIGHT at the END OF THE TUNNEL; as I COME AROUND THE BEND … ending WHAT APPEARS to be a DARK TUNNEL – but it’s been a TRANSITION space, a LEARNING space, a SHIFT IN LIFE AWARENESS …

“Coming out of the dark” as the Gloria Estefan song notes.

The OLD SHELL GAME … FOR THE BIRDS! HA! But how BEAUTIFULLY they PLAYED IT – on a WIRE!

Never know where you’re going to FIND THE PRIZE, even when things in life seem mixed up!
YUP!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM
DRIVING HERSELF HAPPY down the ROAD OF LIFE
See the Manure being tossed as FERTILIZER … a GROWTH OPPORTUNITY!

In honor of all the amazing work and awareness brought by MARTIN LUTHER KING, his family and others of his time period –

I wanted to Honor this day by bringing awareness of my book: LIFE IS A SONG IN THE KEY OF LOVE or Growing Up With the Embarrassment of Prejudice

The ‘thought’ for the book came to me back in 1999 during a New Year’s Church Service – ‘Start the New Year Fresh’ – church prayer/meditation regarding – our New Year focus. I was sitting quietly when the thought: ‘Growing Up With the Embarrassment of Prejudice’ came to mind.

I progressively started to write thoughts, notes, and quotes, etc. as I planned the book. It took me 9 years to write the book – because I wanted it to come from a POSITIVE space and not seem whiny nor negative. In my own growth and awareness – I found MY SINGING VOICE! In the process of finding my voice – I discovered the song from the 30′s: LIFE IS A SONG

There is a line in the song: Let’s Take Our Hearts and Dip them in Rhyme

THAT WAS IT! I thought! THAT’s how I can TURN THIS AROUND!

I wrote this book based on comparing LIFE to SHEET MUSIC! That a prejudiced/biased world would sound MONOTONE!

By Appreciating Life in ALL its forms of EXPRESSION (as well as showing RESPECT) – we can MAKE LIFE A SONG!

My book is available at: www.lulu.com/hszollosy or locally from me at: www.lafolot.com/books/
It is also available on www.AMAZON.COM – books – search on Helen Marie Szollosy.

I know some of you have already read it and given me WONDERFUL feedback! Thank you so much!

The book deals HEALTHILY and CREATIVELY with treating ALL LIFE Expression with respect … noting my oldest sister with brain damage as a result of being hit by a drunk driver … or think of a child from a challenged household – with hygiene issues – being bullied at school for BEING DIFFERENT… or a person with dimentia – not aware of the present … it’s more than just religion, culture, skin color, gender bias …

IF YOU FEEL SO MOVED – PLEASE SHARE MY BLOG … it’s OPTIONAL …

I have seen so much in the news about racist comments, bullying, brain damage, and other bias. I feel there is a stronger need for me to promote my book – and I don’t currently have the funds.

Thank you for any support. Again, it’s OPTIONAL … whatever works for you! IN ACCEPTANCE AND PEACE …

Highlighted Helen Marie Szollosy
Living BOLD and in ITALICS!
Make LIFE a SONG!
Be in AWE of it ALL!

WORLD CHALLENGE! I DOUBLE-DARE ‘YA!

LIGHT THE WORLD WITH SMILE POWER!

Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT.com

OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEER! Hear! Here!

Live Life! Laugh Often!

‘Your Bill is Paid’ said the server at FRIENDLY’s, once I had finished my meal. It just happens to be CHRISTMAS EVE as I write this.

I said: “WHAT!?” I looked around, thinking it was the Manager, or the server, or another server – since they know me from dining there frequently.

Then the server indicated towards an empty booth near the window. She said: “It was the family who had been dining over there.” She was smiling.

I said: ‘WOW! My heart is TOUCHED!’ … ‘I wish I could have thanked them! … I’ll have to BLOG about it!’ She smiled and nodded, a warmth in her eyes as they twinkled.

WOW! I told her: ‘I have to laugh! People see me dining alone and sometimes feel sorry for me. I LOVE to go places on my own! I like meeting people! I’ve gone on a cruise and other vacations on my own; because I enjoy meeting people and am a free spirit!’ She agreed, and said she is the same way.

I had been ‘playing’ with customers with kids as they came in the door of the restaurant, by putting on my clown nose as they walked in.

I had to laugh! I had ordered a SENIOR menu item (they allow it at this restaurant, even though I’m 52). The cost is less and I don’t eat a lot. I had just ordered a FISHAMAJIG! But, I have to tell you – it’s the MOST PRICELESS Fishamajig I’ve ever had!

I am truly heart-warmed by THE THOUGHT that went through this family’s mind and heart as they MADE THAT DECISION. I noticed they had a little boy with them, around age 6 to 8 years. What a WONDERFUL lesson, a priceless lesson they taught that child!

What a WONDERFUL gift of WARMTH and GOOD-HEALTH they gave themselves by this PRICELESS act!

I was ‘where I wanted to be’, ‘doing what I wanted to do’, ‘being, where I wanted to be’ …freely being me – and I GOT MY MEAL FOR FREE! TEE HEE HEE!

I’m sending out a positive thought, positive prayer and gratitude and warmth towards this beautiful, kind family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM
Outlook Shift Engineer! Hear! Here!