LAFOLOT

‘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!

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 working at my parttime HALLMARK Helen job, yesterday. I’m helping out a
fellow Hallmark card ‘lady’ while she’s on vacation.

As I walked down the main aisle, I saw a woman ‘SIGNING’ with one hand as she
held her ‘Wireless Device’ out from her.

I love talking to everyone and anyone when I am out and about. I have learned
how to say: Hello, Goodbye, How Are You? and Thank You! in many different
languages and dialects. I like to let people know, I’m willing to take a step
over the barrier to learn more about their culture, etc.

When I saw this woman, there was NO BARRIER, (I have a cousin who is Deaf and
I’ve learned the Alphabet and a FEW signs). I wasn’t READING what she was
saying, because I don’t know enough to be able to do that – and it would have
been an invasion of privacy. For anyone who is concerned.

I walked toward her in AH! MAZEMENT! of this wonderful device – and signed: H,
I (HI!) I indicated I was going to SAY HELLO to her friend on the phone. She
noted they had hung up.

I signed: MY COUSIN IS DEAF (I use this opening line when approaching someone
sho is signing, so they know I can speak, hear and that they may know my cousin
from their community meetings, of which I’m aware.)

We ‘talked a little bit’ – She knew I couldn’t sign MUCH. She helped me with a
few signs. She showed me her ‘phone’ – that there is a new APP known as TANGO
that allows someone who is deaf – to get a FULL SCREEN conversation window – in
order to communicate just as a speaking/hearing person would with a cell phone,
etc.

She was very excited, as was I! We communicated with BIG FACIAL expressions and
minimal signing – she read my lips as I spoke -

I agreed that I was AH! MAZED! Why? Prior to personal computers and e-mails -
the deaf community had to use an oversized, bulky machine in the home known as a
TTY. It limited communication; because of not being able to use phone for voice
communication.

I KNEW INSTANTLY – WHY she was SO EXCITED!

HOW WONDERFUL! This DEVICE – courtesy of Steve Jobs and those in the wireless
technology field – have now:

Brought the Deaf Community and the Hearing/Speaking community TOGETHER -
HEALTHILY – SOCIALLY with this WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL DEVICE!

I had been concerned that cell phones, texting, etc. were creating an
ANTI-SOCIAL atmosphere – taking away proper grammar, developing an entire new
language of TEXTING – etc…

and – once again – I’m learning to BE FLEXIBLE and GROW ALONG WITH IT – seeing
how these WONDERFUL CHANGES are BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER who would not have been able to communicate, before?

Since computers and e-mails – I can now – easily communicate with my cousin, NO
PROBLEM!

and now – we can TANGO! DANCE! and communicate VISUALLY via wireless devices
that allow the DEAF community to wirelessly communicate on the run!

I AM SO EXCITED BY ALL THIS! TALK ABOUT BRINGING THE WORLD TOGETHER!
FEEL THE TINGLE AND THE EXCITEMENT!

Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT.com (Outlook Shift Engineer!) typing with a smile and a big laugh out loud in her heart – IMAGINE THE BEAUTY OF IT ALL!

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!

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

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!

As I write this, my loveable, Alpha Male cat, ‘Buddy’ is happily meowing and playing with his collection of cat toys in the kitchen. Brings a smile to my face!

My cat, Buddy, has many roles; one of them being Personal Workout Coach.

He has me TRAINED to toss toys to him, while he sits atop kitchen cabinets, or countertops so he can EXPERTLY (like YODA) bat the toy back at me to catch; or GO RUN, BEND and FETCH!

He developed this PLAY routine so that I wouldn’t realize I was exercising (CAT-ERCISING).

*he’s now doing his daily RUN and DASH across the house. I think he’s trying to get me to learn to sprint. I’m playing dumb …

Anyway – I digress …

So, this morning – I start to pick up ALL the cat toys from the floor so that I can vacuum. Oh, I guess this is another BUDDY METHOD – CAT-ERCISE routine; making me walk, bend and stretch to pick up the toys!

I gather them all, and place them on the kitchen table to clear the vacuuming area. SILLY ME! CAT-ERCISE time! Alpha Bud – Personal Cat Trainer Coach starts to pick up each piece, shake it around in his mouth and TOSS it back onto the kitchen floor.

FA-GED-A-BOUD the vacuuming! I spend the next ten minutes BENDING, RUNNING, FETCHING, LAUGHING as he tosses EVERY toy back onto the floor!

Ahhhh – WHAT A WORKOUT! or is it a PLAY OUT – BUDDY METHOD STYLE?

*MEOW! HOW he worked my muscles, today – with play!

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

If you’re still not convinced of the Power of a Positive thought, a shared SMILE or Healthy Laugh; perhaps this excerpt from an article by:

Mark Waldman and Andrew Newberg, MD (Neuroscientific studies at Penn
State University) will help! Amazing stuff!

“This interpersonal Law of Attraction is based on the principle of neural
resonance. When you observe another person’s face and body language and listen
to the tone of voice, your brain begins to MIRROR the neural activity of the
other person’s brain. Psychologists call this empathy – a partial grasping of how the other person thinks and feels.

If we follow (Ernest) Holmes’ advice and EMBODY positive thoughts and feelings,
other people will neurologically resonate to our peaceful, happy state. Neurochemicals that stimulate bonds of friendship and intimacy are released and when this occurs, we become more socially cooperative, responding with generosity, compassion, and fairness. In the field of neuroeconomics, this is known as RECIPROCAL ALTRUISM.”

…FACE uh I mean FASCINATING stuff! ;o)

Smiles, twinkling eyes, holding a positive thought, sharing a ‘light’ moment of healthy laughter, gets shared more than we know …

NOW WE KNOW! ;o)

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT
Living in AWE of it ALL!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
www.lafolot.com

Wow! What a day of Xtreme, Xtra-special Synchronicity!

After 3 attempts, my MOBILE LAFOLOT – HEALTHY HAPPY HOUR event produced visible success! YES! The backed-up, rush hour traffic gave me plenty of willing participants with whom to share Healthy SMILES and some LAUGHS!

I even sold a ME! T-shirt to a local business man walking by; as well as had a DRIVE THRU inquirer to WHAT was I ALL ABOUT?

The irony about the drive thru soul was; he was taking a balloon home for his teen daughter’s birthday; and had just come from a work event where they received t-shirts that had the words: KEEP SMILING written on the upper back!
I gave him a Stress Reliever Pinwheel, my TIME TO LAUGH game sheets (one for his teen daughter) and my SMILE Campaign game sheet.

Some folks rolled down their car windows to share a big, bright smile!
Some folks smiled, waved, nodded or beeped as they drove by!
It was WONDERFUL, HEALTHY interaction for their drive home after a day at work or school!

THEN! Here’s the Xtreme synchronicity part! I had stopped at a local grocery store earlier in the day to get approval to Camcord – Grocery Aisle Dancing – for The Levity Project’s latest micro-movement. I specifically asked if a fun, fan, cashier worker named ‘Anika’ would be working that evening. The courtesy desk wasn’t sure but said I was welcome to come back.

XTREME SYNCHRONICITY! As I had on my turn signal to turn left through non-stop, busy traffic to get to the store – an SUV stopped and a hand waved at me to ‘go ahead’.

After I turned, the SUV followed behind me into the grocery store parking lot.

I found a PERFECT close parking spot near the entrance and the SUV had to park farther away. I got out, opened my back car door to get out some LAFOLOT Smiley Face Bookmarks to give to anyone who would be willing to DANCE WITH ME in the AISLES. I also had my camcorder with me.

As I closed the car door – who is walking towards me in the parking lot?
ANIKA! The fun, fan, of LAFOLOT Cashier! She was NOT in her work clothes!
I LOOKED IN AMAZEMENT! I said: ‘I can’t believe this! I came here SPECIFICALLY to find out if you were working!’ I said: ‘It’s GREAT you aren’t in your work uniform so there are no restrictions!’

I explained the project to her and she was ALL FOR THE GROCERY STORE AISLE DANCING. I asked her if she minded if it was just the two of us if we couldn’t find anyone else? – No problem! [Here's the video!]

XTREME SYNCRONICITY NO. 2 – She was with her dad! He didn’t want to dance, but he agreed to be the videographer!

HOW PERFECTLY, SYNCHRONISTICALLY, BEAUTIFUL WAS IT ALL?

My wish is that you – AND I – can see the BEAUTY of SYNCHRONICITY in ALL days – no matter what!

Blessing to all that come across this blog -

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT
Truly – Living Life in A-MAZE-MENT!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
www.lafolot.com