LAFOLOT

I have a beautifully witty, creative, kind friend who has shared the following story with me:

As a young child, in school, there was a holiday gift exchange. After the class picked their gift packages, another girl in the glass announced to the teacher: ‘I GOT MY OWN GIFT! THE ONE THAT I BROUGHT!’ Without ‘skipping a beat’, ‘without asking’ – the teacher told the girl to ‘JUST TRADE YOUR GIFT WITH (my friend’s name omitted). My friend noted she opened her gift to find A FRUIT CAKE! The girl who had FREELY given up the gift she brought in, got a wonderful, creative kit to play with and have fun!

My friend notes that THAT moment (jokingly) defined her life. My friend has a HIGHLY CREATIVE mind and EXCELLENT WIT!

OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEERING, now starts …

As an adult – we wonder WHAT the teacher was thinking!? I often note, just because a person is of a certain age, doesn’t mean they are able to ‘act as an adult’. Not always because of mental/emotional ability. Was the teacher Frazzled? Exhausted? Just wasn’t thinking… ??? who knows? Too bad we can’t ask “WHO” … BECAUSE “WHO” seems to be the one WHO knows the answers … now that I think about it! *smile Wonder where ‘WHO’ lives? Gonna have to look into that. Seems just like SANTA – maybe WHO lives at the South Pole?

As an adult – we look back and see that the ‘Other Girl’ might have known that her gift WAS the FRUITCAKE, and in no way wanted it! Maybe not, maybe her parent didn’t tell her what had been wrapped and she was trying to BE HONEST? Who knows … (I’m being fair in my outlook shift engineering view.)

So we fast forward in life, you have the girl that gave up the fruitcake …
you have my Creative-Minded, Beautiful, Witty ACTRESS friend who is GREAT with seeing life from an INTERESTING perspective, and being able to write and chuckle about it.

We all play these roles in impacting one another’s lives. I had MY instances, as a child, where ‘the other girl’ got the good stuff. I could share many stories. One of those girls in MY childhood, who seemed to ‘have it all’, lost her older brother to drugs in College – so even though she was an Honors student, she went into a clerical field seeing that College does bad things to people. Interesting how life turns out.

These FRUITCAKE Life Lessons – give us the opportunity to look back at this time of year and be GRATEFUL. Even if we are FULL of FRUITCAKE and sick of it.

I’m thinking my friend DIDN’T NEED the CREATIVE FUN KIT – because she was already Witty, and Beautifully Creative! Maybe the other girl needed the kit to boost her creativity? Maybe it helped her parent to see a different take on a gift versus a cake for a kid. Then again there are all the other scenarios that could come into play. I can think of MANY coming from a challenged family, with a mom who couldn’t drive, money being an issue, etc.

Another way of looking at it – it’s not always so bad to KNOW what’s in the package! This applies if you are the type to PREFER A SURPRISE be unwrapped!

Here’s to a new year, a new you and FRUITCAKE LIFE LESSONS! No matter WHAT you GET in LIFE; I think when you are able to do an OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEERING process on it all – in the end – you see it actually worked out perfectly!

Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT.com
Outlook Shift Engineer! Hear! Here!
Live Life! Laugh Often!

I teach what I need to learn, I share because I care. I don’t DO Christmas. At least not just ‘once during the year’ – I believe in LIVING LIFE in the SPIRIT of the SEASON.

I don’t believe in the once-a-year stress, mega-shopping, mega-debt, shock of seeing family members where one can’t relate and adjust, where addicts get into their mega-use to avoid it all, etc.
NOW for my OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEERING approach … AH! HA! HA HA!

I BELIEVE in LIVING LIFE! LAUGHING OFTEN!
I BELIEVE in LIVING in the SEASON and SPIRIT of Christmas year round! How does THAT SOUND?

My laughter leader trainer, Dr. Steve Wilson, wrote a wonderful book called: ‘GOOD-HEARTED LIVING’. We’ve seen these values and traits written and spoken about many times over: COMPLIMENTS, FLEXIBILITY, GRATITUDE, KINDNESS, FORGIVESS, and having fun and relaxing (CHOCOLATE).

I don’t DO Christmas … but I did awake this morning to the EXPECTATION, APPRECIATION of a BEAUTIFUL NEW DAY! I didn’t run out to find a tree with wrapped packages… I found the SUN streaming through my bedroom window! YES! A new PHresh Day! A new, PHresh Outlook on Life!

What a GIFT, this NEW day, this NEW start to a NEW outlook. ‘Pick myself up, dust myself off, start all over again!’ as the song says.

I get to LIVE LIFE! in AH! MAZEMENT! Each day I get to practice GOOD-HEARTED LIVING! I can awake to realize a NEW FORGIVENESS!

I look out my window as I prepare my healthy breakfast filled with GRATITUDE and see the MIRACLE OF LIFE as BIRDS flitter from branch to branch.

I get to PRACTICE this SPIRIT OF THE SEASON on a MOMENT to MOMENT basis … living in the GIFT of the PRESENT … constantly seeing a NEW SURPRISE … a NEW LESSON … a REASON to be GRATEFUL!

I get to EXCUSE, FORGIVE, RELEASE a minor irritation by a fellow DRIVER or SHOPPER when I am out-and-about.

I get to PRACTICE ‘A Little Kindness…’ and live in AH! MAZING! EXPECTATION of each new occurrence and miracle in my life!

Why only do this for a brief time each year? LIVE LIFE IN AH! MAZEMENT! LIVE LIFE! with EXPECTATION! on a moment to moment basis. LIVE, LIVE, LIVE IN the SPIRIT of the SEASON!

No need to wait for ‘once a year’ to SPEND TIME WITH THE KIDS, or a MISSED family member to BAKE SOME COOKIES or make some Ginger Bread Houses. It’s all about the SPECIAL QUALITY TIME … be creative! This translates to sandcastles and group gardening projects.

No need to wait for the ‘HOLIDAY SEASON’ to make donations or take food to a needy family.

No need to wait for the Holiday Season to take some time for YOURSELF, to ‘take a ME-DAY’ from work and CELEBRATE THE GIFT OF LIFE!

As MAME said: ‘We need a Little Christmas, right this very minute …’ – in life, on a moment to moment basis … living in the moment, in the MIRACLE of each new day and minute … seeing the JOY, LOVE, MAGNIFICENCE around us.

The SPIRIT of the SEASON is about:
EXPECTANCY,
BEING IN THE MOMENT
GRATITUDE and THANKS
FORGIVING
Being a little KIND, a little FLEXIBLE
Enjoying those TREATS
Spending time with someone
SHARING those GIFTS …

Play the HA HA HELEN SMILE CAMPAIGN - GAME!, DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY!, take TIME 2 LAUGH … LIVE LIFE LIKE IT’S The Christmas Season!

THAT’S THE SPIRIT! L I V E IT! and share a Healthy Laugh or Smile while you’re at it!

Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT.com – OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEER, Hear! Here!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
A little kindness goes a long way …

I was helping my younger sister, by taking my mom to a doctor’s appointment years back. My mom, having reduced lung capacity, started to breathe heavily once getting back into the car. Having a creative mind and strong instinct, I quickly put my Russel Watson ‘The Voice – ENCORE’ CD into my car’s player.

He opened with his pop-raspy voice intro to the first song; and then BURST FORTH into FULL OPERATIC VOICE! What a VOICE! My mom exclaimed: ‘Wow! Buy me that CD!’ and she handed me $20.00 to pay for it! OH! …and her breathing started to calm!

I’m told my own singing voice can be very soothing, comforting, relaxing, and healing. I’ve had people buy my CD ( A Night at the Piano Bar with Helen of LAFOLOT) to give to freinds with health challenges.

The POWER of THE VOICE! With tone, with a look, with a feeling behind a word or statement – we have THE POWER to instantly change a mood, a situation, become a negotiator, an instigator, etc.

The POWER of THE VOICE! In Laughter Wellness and Outlook Shift Engineering talks, I share about ‘empathic response’ studied by Neuropsychologists. This is an area of the brain that receives WORD-VOICE and FACIAL-PHYSICAL transmissions from others with whom we are interracting. AH! MAZING! I say!

WE, have THE POWER – to diffuse or use! WE, have THE POWER to feel, assess, and SHARE-CARE due to the NATURAL empathy response of our AH! MAZING! BRAINS!

WHAT A GIFT!

I’m listening to my Russell Watson ‘THE VOICE’ CD as I type this. I LOVE the male, tenor voice!

Music, Voice, Word, Facial Expressions have such POWER! When I want to RESET, or have a personal OUTLOOK SHIFT – I often turn to MUSIC! ART! ENTERTAINMENT! SOCIALIZATION! LAUGHTER WELLNESS!

All these are received by the brain and have the power to:

MOTIVATE ME TO GET UP AND MOVE! CLEAN! Get OFF MY SEAT – and MOVE MY FEET!
to, RELAX, INSPIRE, FEEL, HEAL and MEDITATE!

In a slump? Feeling jittery or agitated? Need to relax and relieve stress? Need to get up and move?

Think Music, Voice, Action (Acting) and watch yourself move in a different direction!

Highlighted Helen! ‘Outlook Shift Engineer!’
Living BOLD and in ITALICS!
Live Life! Laugh Often!

What a W.O.W. (World of Wonder!) couple of days!
Needness to say, it’s been a SUPER challenging past week (mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually!) –
luckily we have a ‘FAMILY TEAM’ working to help my oldest, brain damaged sister ‘Dolly’ (as a result of being hit by a drunk driver when she was 20 – now 63), as well as my 86 year old mom who is currently in hospice.

It’s been a year of challenges, frustrations, and dissapointment – HOLDING ON – knowing that SEEDS have been planted and are GERMINATING – ready to BLOSSOM and grow my LAFOLOT.COM business. I AFFIRM THIS!

I have newly title myself: OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEER! If the TITLE fits, WEAR it!

Heres the AH! MAZING! NARRATIVE of KONTAGIOUS KINDNESS events and OUTLOOK SHIFTS since yesterday!

I had a dental appointment yesterday morning at which I received a coupon attached to an 8 1/2 inch sheet of paper. I was ‘dissapointed’ because I thought the dental hygenist said she would give me a coupon for anti-bacterial mouthwash – all I saw was a coupon for dental floss. But I chose to be grateful.

OUTLOOK SHIFT: I took the coupon sheet to the grocery store, and when I went to fold and tear the coupon at the perforation; I FOUND OUT THERE WAS PRINTING ON THE BACK – and THAT’s where the mouthwash coupon was! SILLY ME! It just took an OUTLOOK shift to discover THE GIFT! When I used the coupon, the grocery store DOUBLED it’s value and the coupon maching SPIT OUT (no pun intended re: the mouthwash) – ANOTHER $1.00 off coupon for the same produce – not expiring for 3 months! Woo Hoo!

Last evening, after leaving my mom’s hospice room and having to help her eat (this is not easy for me emotionally nor physically) – I stopped at a local 7-11 Convenience store to pick up a Hotdog and Fritos for dinner. The owner of the store knows me as a frequent customer. HE GAVE ME THE HOTDOG FOR FREE! What a kindness! We never know what people are experiencing in their lives – that GESTURE was PRICELESS!

I got up this morning and sang my own made-up song, chants about everything I was grateful for. The shower, the water, my hair-blow dryer, etc etc.

When I went to visit my sister in her nursing home I found an older couple sitting near the lobby front door. Even though it was 10 A.M. – he kept greeting everyone with GOOD AFTERNOON because he thought it was funny! I had my clown nose with me – so I put it on and he and his wife laughed!

When I went down the hall towards my sister’s room – the PHYSICAL THERAPY staff were helping a senior woman go through Plastic Cones – to learn how to maneuvre her walker. They said: OH NO! YOU CAN’T JUST WALK BY! YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE CONES! I slipped my clown nose out of my pocket – put it on my face and OBLIGED! They laughed and thanked me.

I found my sister, relaxed, content and resting on her bed. She was happy to get her wristwatch back after a recent stay in the hospital. We had a nice visit.

On my way out, I told her PHYSIATRIST that I ‘VALUED’ his intentions and actions in trying to assist my sister with her mobility, etc. I hear THE HOKEY POKEY being played on a piano and followed the music into a senior/group event being held by two women (one singing, one playing the piano). With my clown nose, I entered the event and they stopped and smiled. They allowed me to join in and physically do the hockey pockey for them – while it was replayed.

I left the building feeling good about having entered with a positive outlook shift – my family having been challenged recently re: my sister’s care.

When I got to the grocery store after that – I saw A FANTASTIC deal on a HUGE SIZE box of cat litter. I’m really hurting financially – so it would have been a good buy – but TOO HEAVY for me to lift. I said that out loud in the aisle – JOKINGLY – and another woman shopper – without skipping a beat – LIFTED THE HUGE BOX OF LITTER INTO MY SHOPPING CART!

I told her I have on my website: A LITTLE KINDNESS GOES A LONG WAY! She had done a great service and unexpected kindness for me! I gave her 3 LAFOLOT bookmarks. She was thrilled because she had just bought a book at a 2nd hand book store! Since I work at this store, I mentioned HER KINDNESS to one of the management and they said they would offer her a discount coupon for having helped me!

KINDNESS IS KONTAGIOUS!
You never know when THAT SMALL GESTURE is helping someone with BIG BURDENS in their life.

Thanks to ALL THE ANGELS that presented themselves to me this past week! Sending thoughts of healthy laughter and smiles out to all!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM
OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEER!

What a W.O.W. (World of Wonder!) moment I had at lunch!

I had stopped into a local SUBWAY owned by a business connection, Kathy George. For a Sunday, there was a crowd! I frequent this SUBWAY because Kathy’s manager, Alicia, put my HA HA HELEN of LAFOLOT picture on an 8 1/2 x 11 poster to help promote HEALTHY LAUGHTER along with SUBWAY’s Healthy Eating!

There was a couple with their daughter and her friend, in the line in front of me. The ‘girls’ were having fun picking out their sandwhich combinations. The daughter had on fun toe nail polish and had painted one foot! They were fun, free spirits! I loved it! They were SO POLITE! The daughter took time to ‘apologize’ to me for holding up the line! WHAT A GREAT SOUL! A TEENAGER! I said: ‘No problem! I’m in no hurry! Besides – THAT’S MY PHOTO UP THERE ON THE SIGN BY THE DOOR!

I pulled a couple bright yellow, LAFOLOT bookmarks out of my purse and gave one to the girl and her friend. I noted: I’m HA HA HELEN and on the back of the bookmark, it explains my SMILE CAMPAIGN! I told them: Whenever I give a smile and someone smiles back, I GIVE MYSELF A POINT! They smiled/laughed/thanked me and moved on.

After they paid, I made sure to tell ‘the mom’ I had given them bookmarks and gave her one so she would know where they got theirs, etc.

They family sat down to finish their sandwhiches. As they got up to leave, I smiled at the girl who smiled back. Her friend was directly behind her. The young girl stated loudly: I GOT ONE POINT!

W.O.W!!! My whole world lit up! My whole day had been turned around! I sat there in AH! MAZEMENT! with the BRIGHTEST SMILE ON MY FACE!

Without going into detail – I and other members of my family are very stressed at the moment dealing with a mom in hospice as well as an older, brain damaged sister in crisis.

This PRICELESS, SPECIAL MOMENT TURNED IT AROUND! I just SAT there in AWE!

I sometimes question, struggling financially at the moment, whether I should just CHUCK it all and go back to a cubicle job to pay off debt, bills, etc.

Then – something like this happens and I realize I’m following my PURPOSE!

As I walked to my car (LAFOLOT MOBILE) – I had to walk past the family’s SUV as ‘the mom’ was getting in the vehicle. I saw ‘the dad’s’ face and I SMILED! He smiled back. The back windows were open where the two girls were sitting.

I ANNOUNCED: ONE POINT!

As I made my way around the vehicle to get to my car – the back window rolled down and the daughter smiled at me announcing: I’M UP TO FIVE POINTS!

What can I say! I HAD SOLD HER ON THE BEAUTY OF THE IDEA! SHE APPROVED OF THE HA HA HELEN SMILE CAMPAIGN – POINTS GAME!

I told her: Do you want to know what I do with all my points? On a day when I can’t find my smile; and someone smiles at me first – KA CHING! I CASH THEM IN! She smiled broadly at the idea as they drove away.

ONE POINT! I THOUGHT! – and I let out a loud YES! YAHOO! YEAHHHH! WITH A BIG SMILE – AS I DROVE AWAY!

HA HA HELEN Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM – OUTLOOK SHIFT ENGINEER!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Lighting up the world – ONE SMILE AT A TIME!
Join HA HA HELEN’S SMILE CAMPAIGN! E-MAIL ME AND TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RESULTS!
IT DOESN’T COST ANYTHING! JUST SHARE YOUR SMILES!

My dad passed on in August 2000. He worked 42 years for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. In addition, he was a ‘jack of all trades. One of his favorite things was gardening. I ‘tagged around’ with my dad a lot and learned Electrical Fix stuff, carpentry, brick laying, tile laying, wall papering, how to fix a zipper, how to make toys out of wooden spools, dried gourds and walnut shells. He was VERY PROUD of his 2/2/22 birth date!

I also learned how to Entertain – by watching my dad do ‘silly Vaudeville act’ and ‘slapstick’ moves and phrases.

In honor of DAD’s day, I recalled a priceless moment. I used to like to go ‘fishing’ with my dad. The funny this is, we never caught any fish. The ONE time I caught a fish, I brought it home and put it in a bucket and watched it swim around. I COULD NEVER HAVE KILLED IT! My dad knew this and ‘took care of it’ when I wasn’t looking. I think my mom cooked it for him.

Because of the above, one time, when WE WENT FISHING, he just put an OPEN, Large Safety Pin on the end of a string attached to a stick. He let me sit on a bridge in Highspire/Middletown area – over the CANAL. He knew I ‘just liked the ACT of fishing and sitting’. Well, a man came walking towards us across the bridge at one point. The man inquired: ‘catch anything?’ I naturally started to pull the ‘makeship fishing apparatus’ out of the water.

NO! NO! my dad said. Just keep it in there. The man looked oddly after we said, ‘no’ and kept on walking. I realized, later – my dad KNEW I didn’t care to catch anything – so just to keep me happy – he rigged a fake fishing line and JUST LET ME SIT.

I would JUST SIT a lot – with my dad – there was no need for words. It was VERY EFFECTIVE communication. When he was ‘passing on’ – I would go to the hospital and JUST SIT. It’s how we communicated. Sometimes – there isn’t a need for words.

I was driving today and saw the personalized bumper display: 1AMB1C 1 (IAMBIC 1) Per Wikipedia: Iambic rhythms come relatively naturally in English. Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry; it is used in many of the major English poetic forms, including blank verse, the heroic couplet, and some of the traditional rhymed stanza forms. William Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets. [I notice these things and started a: DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY! campaign via LAFOLOT.com by 'getting people to enjoy the GIFT of the PRESENT moment - by noticing interesting license plates while driving. This was ANOTHER GAME I learned from MY DAD! He would make funny words out of the 3 letters in the beginning of license plates.]

I figured the driver was announced that they were A POET! Another form of Communication in ART.

Sometimes, ACTing or ACTions speak louder than words – such as in a play or a relationship between a father and daughter.
Sometimes, adding a LITTLE RYTHM with an IAMBIC Pentameter or RAP beat helps to get the message across. When my dad passed on, I was the only one in his hospital room, and I told the young nurse on duty – the story about the SAFETY PIN FISHING LINE. It makes me smile – it has DAD written all over it!

I personally feel, the way to bring PEACE to the WORLD is to put an EMPHASIS on: THE ART OF COMMUNICATION

Whether it’s WRITING, SPEAKING, SINGING, POETRY, ACTING, JOURNALING – communicating with one’s self or with others. But, I feel there is a REAL NEED for THE WORLD to EXPRESS its needs, feelings, wants, desires – IN A HEALTHY WAY.

I think – like my dad – sometimes – we just need to SIT IN THE SILENCE and ponder life – through fishing – even if it’s with a safety pin.

The ART of Communication and NON-Communication – a priceless gift/skill to HONE.

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.com
Living Life! and Laughing Often!
Living in AH! Mazement of it all! … and LEARNING A LOT – from DAD!

I had to laugh while DRIVING MYSELF HAPPY, yesterday!

We had been WARNED that ‘the end was near’!

As of 6:00pm California-time, May 21, 2011 -

the Rapture was to BE! (*hee hee!)

While driving down the road to get a bite to eat at Olive Garden Restaurant -
(I tried using THE RAPTURE as a reason to NOT have to PAY for my food –
but … they wouldn’t BUY it! *ha ha ha)

I saw a car license plate to the front and left lane of mine that started with the letters:

END #### (END!!!! OH NOOOOO!)

The car in front of me had a license plate with the first three letters:

HLP #### (HELLLLLLLP!)

THE END! (the rapture) HELLLLP!

Gotta LOVE how ‘nature’ brings a BIT O’ THE HUMOR into the silly antics of US HUMANS!

Are we all N.U.T.S. ??? (Not Understanding The Silliness)

Prior to that, I saw a license personalized license plate: KAT BARF

So, in the END, with a little HELP, we’ll all be able to LAUGH IT OFF!

From one silly human to others …

LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN! Life, it’s meant to be lived!
Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM
O.S.E. (Outlook Shift Engineer)
www.lafolot.com/drive-yourself-happy

It’s not only OK to be a ‘Charlie in the Box’ it’s GREAT! Be YOU and be Proud of It! re: Land of Misfit Toys – Rudolph the Rednosed Rheindeer – story. WEAR YOUR RED NOSE PROUDLY! Be a PICASSO Painting! Be a PEER POSITIVE no need for Peer Pressure – let the ‘air out’ of the pressure… *whoooosh!

Coming from a ‘challenged’ family with 7 children and being ‘kid number 6′, I had the freedom to ‘be me’ early on. No one was really paying attention. As a result, later in life, I had a few very good friends tell me: ‘I admire that you dare to be different, to be yourself.’ I always remembered those compliments as PRICELESS GIFTS!

I call folks that dare to be different: PICASSOS! Whenever I get to personally know and talk ‘deeply’ with a person who life ALLOWED to be different – for whatever reason – I PRAISE THEM for their PICASSO-nature! re: physical or mental differences – their INNER-SPIRIT daring to ride agains the NORM!

I wrote about this in my ‘Life is a Song in the Key of Love’ Book and continuously bring this to my own attention as well as others. I coined a phrase: PEER POSITIVE as a result. I am very much against going along with the PRESSURE of ADs and MARKETING to ‘BE SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT YOU ARE COMFORTABLE.’

Personally, I feel my eyelashes are long enough, thank you. I’m OK as I am – and if I choose to BE A PICASSO rather than the STANDARD LANDSCAPE OR FRUIT BOWL painting, than so be it. I don’t give in to Peer Pressure, I’m a PEER POSITIVE.

There’s no need for a LAND OF MISFIT TOYS – No Need for a Sad ‘Charlie in the Box’ –

I SALUTE the differences and let out a SIGH OF RELIEF for the REFRESHING NATURE of these beautifully, daring expressions of LIFE SPIRIT!

WOO! HOOOO! FOR YOU! and ME! *weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Have fun on this RIDE OF LIFE!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.com
Living Life in A-MAZE-MENT!
Living BOLD and in Italics!

Teaser: ‘…and as I was exiting the grocery store, a tall, model-like woman was browsing the flowers and balloons display in her 4 1/2 heels! WHAT A WORKOUT!’

I used to really dislike grocery shopping. Now, I PURPOSELY do ‘frequent’, ‘inefficient’ shopping so I HAVE to go back more frequently! Nuts? Oh, no! There’s a ‘madness to my method!’ HA HA!

Being a newly independent business owner, it give me more visibility! Since I work from home, it gets me out of the house for FUN socialization! Why? because I talk to people at the grocery store, joke and spread compliments and smiles!

Today, I was nearing the end of an aisle when a young woman stops her cart – OBLIVIOUS – blocking my exit. She didn’t notice me and proceeded to slowly walk around her mini-cart and reach on the bottom shelf for the plastic iced tea container. FUNNY PART WAS – the mini-cart was loaded with 6-packs of soda all around the top and bottom edges of the cart.

I ‘just stood there’ watching. I found it funny. She was moving in slow motion, oblivious. She finally noticed me, and apologized. I laughed, smiled and said “Oh! don’t worry – I do laughter wellness for a living and I was getting a kick out of watching the whole thing!” The HILARIOUS part was, she was double-checking that the iced-tea was INDEED sugar free! HAHAHAHA – she had tons of sugary soda in the cart! (I know – it could have been for several different people, it was just funny.) We talked about food carton labeling a few seconds and went on our merry way.

When I got over to the dairy aisle, I noticed a woman with beautiful, long, healthy, black, shiny hair! I have a cosmetology license, so I KNOW healthy hair when I see it! I said: ‘Excuse me, I don’t normally do this, but I have to tell you you have the most beautiful, shiny, black hair I’ve ever seen! What do you do to it?’ She was an woman possibly in her lat 30s or 40s. She said: ‘Oh! I’m getting it ALL CUT OFF for LOCKS OF LOVE!’ [I was impressed!] She said: ‘I never use hot blow dryers on it.’ It was amazing!

Besides making ‘frequent’ trips to the grocery store (on a daily basis), I also walk from one end of the store to the other – not in a down and up the aisle pattern. Why? It GETS ME MORE EXERCISE and I feel SILLY doing it! It’s fun! I make my Grocery List in my head by getting the first letter of each item needed and making a word out of it! For example, yesterday it was WAT or TWA (Trans World Airlines!) HA HA Water, Apples, Tea bags! I just remember the word or phrase and off to shop I go!

IT’S FUN, SILLY and puts a smile on my face as I remember my items without writing them down! It’s a GREAT EXERCISE for THE BRAIN, too!

As I checked out, I wished the Indian/American cashier attendant Hello! in HINDI (I know a couple Phillipine/American women there, also – so I get to with them Hello, Goodbye, Thank you in their languages, too!)

As I walked towards the exit, I see a TALL, Model-like young woman in Shoe Heels that were almost as tall as me! They must have been 4 1/2″ heels! Talk about A HEALTHY WORKOUT while BALANCING on those things! I left the store in my SENSIBLE SNEAKERS with a SMILE on my face!

Here’s to healthy, happy, inefficient, social grocery store shopping! HA HA HELEN of LAFOLOT style!

Spread those SMILES by the MILES!

and DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY! to the grocery store!
www.lafolot.com
Live Life! Laugh Often!
Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT

It’s a Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT

‘DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY!’ moment! HA HA!

I was heading out of my Mobile Park to turn onto the main road -
I looked at the first three letters of the license plate
in front of me.

GBL – Ha Ha Ha! That’s GOBBLE! for Thanksgiving! How appropriate!

I went to record my FIRST RADIO AD for a small local radio station- WOO HOO! It went well! I used my THEATRE VOICE! Ha Ha! [ fyi - it will air Monday Nov 29 7:41 AM each weekday before the Comedy minute through December 25, 2010 - 1230 AM Fortress - a local - southcentral PA radio station]

Afterwards, I headed out into Holiday shopping traffic to do some food shopping and head over to my favorite office supply store for my 2011 business wall calendar.

When leaving the parking lot to drive home – I looked at the car in front of me. The first 3 letters on the license plate were:

ELV

HA HA! ELVES! How appropriate for the Holiday Season!

Guess I’m ‘DRIVING MYSELF HAPPY!’

Have a Ha Ha Happy THANKSGIVING and Holiday Season! No matter your belief system or options for celebrating or not – just BE!
*Weeeeeee! *tee hee!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.COM
Live Life! Laugh Often! and DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY!