sallyhuss's blog

Loving Kindness, Got some? by Sally Huss

2008-11-13T11:08:29-06:00

"Loving kindness spreads like wildfire when given a little spark."

(Happy Musings is a newspaper feature syndicated by King Features that I create each day to remind us all that “Life is wonderful!” I offer it here to brighten your day. Please share it with your friends.) (HM 12-30 Loving kindness…)

Do not underestimate the power of loving kindness. Poor humanity, it’s not very developed as yet. We’re not far beyond our animal nature. That’s the one that is me, me, me – fearful and selfish. But our next step, I believe, is to just reach a level of “loving kindness” universally. It doesn’t seem like asking very much, but it’s what we need to do now – to operate with loving kindness in all our activities.

I remember as a young person being in the presence of some very wise people. And, it was their opinion that loving kindness was humanity’s next level of evolvement. It takes a long while for everyone to get on the same page, but that’s the page we need to get on. As we can see from what goes on around the world and even in this country there is much to be done to achieve this fairly elementary level of brotherly love.

A few years ago there was a clever ad on TV from the Almond Association. They were trying to bring awareness to the fact that there were a lot of almonds to be had and we should help out. A man stood up to his waist in almonds and held up a can of almonds, stating, “All we ask is one can a week.”

That’s what we need to do for each other on this subject – “All we ask is to act with loving kindness.”

The drive and ambition to get ahead sometimes leaves kindness in its wake. We might be benefiting ourselves in a greater way by putting kindness first. To get ahead, might just be to take a step back into kindness. It does spread like wildfire when given a little spark.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

(To view my gallery of original art and peek at my extensive line of bright and happy products, including THE HAPPY BOOK, bibs, nursery wall décor, totes and purses, and gifts with thoughtful thoughts, go to: www.sallyhuss.com.)

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Mary Poppins was Right! by Sally Huss

2008-10-20T12:50:45-05:00

"Fun is the best taskmaster!"

(Happy Musings is a newspaper feature syndicated by King Features that I create each day to remind us all that “Life is wonderful!” I offer it here to brighten your day. Please share it with your friends.)

Mary Poppins was right! She knew that “a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down.” To her sugar meant some kind of fun. Fun is the best taskmaster! Kids know it. Teachers and parents know it. Now, to act on this knowing when it has to do with your own activities, is a good habit to have. It always comes down to attitude. No matter how you try to get around it, it is attitude that makes the difference in the doings that we have to do.

A youngish woman came into my gallery this morning with a definite intention. “Give me that one about the dirty laundry!”

I pulled the piece of gift art off of the wall. She explained that her circumstances had changed recently and she no longer had a housekeeper, one who did her laundry. It was now her task to care for the family’s clothes. She said that she had never bothered about her laundry room in the past – no frills, no decorations of any kind. But now that she was doing the laundry, she wanted to spice up this activity and wanted this particular saying on the wall of that little room.

As I wrapped the framed piece, I read it again. “Dirty laundry reminds me that someone has worked, someone has played, someone has eaten, someone has slept, and someone has enjoyed their day just as they will tomorrow if someone like me takes care with what they have to wear.” This particular thought gives a whole new meaning to doing laundry. It may not be the most fun job in a home, but it is necessary and if you are elected, it still can be joyful.

We are the ones who put the fun in our lives, whether it’s on the job or at play.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Love the Way It Is by Sally Huss

2008-10-09T10:23:28-05:00

"To love the way it is, is wise. To love the way it isn't, is just as wise."

Wise is good. To gather wisdom is really wise. One of the wisest people I know is Therese Furino Boni, an older French-Italian grand dame. She taught me one of the wisest things I have ever learned – to see things as they are. With our wishes and desires we tend to put a negative or positive spin on things. Yet, the way it is, is always just that. By placing no judgment on something or someone, a person sees clearly things as they are and is able to deal with all kinds of situations freely, spontaneously and in the “now”.

I took that idea of viewing things as they are to heart. I learned to love that point of view. I learned to love the way it is, which included loving the way it isn’t.

I could see this concept so clearly when I taught tennis. I myself had been raised to be a champion in the traditional way and therefore had a perfectionist’s point of view. I could see the interference this made in everything I did – judging everything, wanting something one way when it wasn’t. Then later, after my competitive days, as I taught tennis I could see the judgment my students made on his or her shots with the accompanying up or down emotions. The ball was not just hit into the net. It was hit into the net “Ugh!” The ball was not hit out. It was hit out “Damn!” And, of course, with each judgment and change of emotional state a person’s attention is lost on that which is always moving and changing – the ball.

That’s the way it is with life – moving and changing. Just when you think you’ve got your ducks in a row, life changes the line up.

So the solution, it seems to me, is to love things the way they are. That’s the wisest point of view that I’ve come across. If you find something better, let me know!

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Loving Kindness, Got some? by Sally Huss

2008-10-02T09:59:21-05:00

"Loving kindness spreads like wildfire when given a little spark."

That’s what we need to do for each other on this subject – “All we ask is to act with loving kindness.”

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Feelin’ Perfect? Why not? by Sally Huss

2008-09-25T18:37:19-05:00

"Feeling perfect is the perfect way to feel."

If you had a choice of how to feel, how would you feel? Perfect, I’ll bet. Why not? If perfect were an option, wouldn’t you pick it? No reason to pick anything else.

Pretend you have that option. Then perfect is the perfect way to feel. And since you are the picker, why wouldn’t you pick it all the time? Your heart would agree, but perhaps your head would have some hesitation, some hang-ups, something that has to done or has to happen before you allow yourself to feel perfect. I say, knock yourself in the head and tell your rational mind to take a hike. Tell it to come back when it has a better attitude. Go for the gold! Go for perfection right now.

I don’t know where I learned the importance of this or how to do this. But, I’ve felt this way for quite a long time. Of course, I have forgotten here and there along the way, but then life comes along and knocks some sense into me and back I go feeling perfect again.

I remember knowing this truth long ago when I was in my twenties. I was happy-go-lucky living with little and loving life to its fullest. I had been invited to play in a pro-celebrity tennis tournament in Carmel, hosted by Clint Eastwood. It was held at the famous Pebble Beach Country Club. The grounds were lovely; the sky was blue; the play was fun.

Between matches I wandered over to a woman who was sitting by herself watching some warm up tennis. She had a cast on her leg. As we chatted she revealed how depressed and unhappy she was with her broken leg. It prevented her from going and doing as she usually did. It limited her. She felt sad and miserable. I told her that all she had to do to heal herself was to feel joy. It made perfect sense to me. What difference did it make if she were in a cast or not? She could still feel wonderful. She could still feel perfect. I left her with that thought.

Today I sat with a Nigerian man at a luncheon. It was a charity event to benefit the children of Nigeria – a special school for girls. My table mate said that no matter how little the Nigerian people had and the suffering they endured, they still remained happy. Yet, he pointed out, that Americans in general had plenty, but were still not happy. Proving once again, that happiness or the state of perfection does not depend on things, but on people.

Whether you have or have not, perfect is the perfect way to feel!

I pick perfect all the time.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Don’t Forget Happiness! by Sally Huss

2008-09-15T12:57:06-05:00

"Happiness does not come uninvited. It needs to be the guest of honor."

Yep, if you put happiness first, the rest falls into place. That does not mean “pleasure happiness”, but true happiness. We are always doing it the other way round – trying to get everything in place in order to be happy. Why miss all that time in the process? “Happiness Now” is the way to go – the happiness that is not dependent on outside circumstances!

I believe happiness does need to be invited into one’s life. There is always plenty of room for it. If not, push some other things out of the way to make room. In fact a welcoming committee of all aspects of your being could band together to create a great welcoming party. Then once it shows up, make it the honored guest, so honored that it will never want to leave.

It is almost a life exercise to maintain this state. It seems like it is a state one step above everyday life which goes up and down. Happiness is above the clouds and winds and rains. It is steady and consistent. And it is reassuring to know that we have control over it. It never turns down an invitation. We just have to remember to open the door. I think of all the friends to have, happiness is the best.

A moment without happiness is a moment lost. Don’t waste a moment.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Crystal Clear Goals by Sally Huss

2008-09-09T16:41:33-05:00

"Make your goals crystal clear and clearly they will become crystallized -- provided life doesn't have something better in mind."

Ummm! This is a very good thing to know – to “make your goals crystal clear and clearly they will become crystallized.” But the second part of this is equally important – “provided life doesn’t have something better in mind.” It’s best to remember that life is always looking out for us. And, although we want what we want, we may not get exactly what we want. It might just be better.

At one point in my life I was very fixated on this “getting exactly what you want idea” as many people are today. At the same time I was preparing a thought-a-day calendar for American Greetings in which I included this thought – without the second part. After the calendar was published I showed it to a friend of mine who is a very wise woman. She turned the pages slowly, absorbing the thoughts and commented on the art. She smiles. She chuckled. Then she stopped. “This is not right,” she said pointing to exactly this statement. “You are dealing with truth here and you must be exact.” Then she proceeded to put me right. “Yes, make your goals crystal clear, but life has a say in things and it may not be for your best interest or others’ best interest that your goal be manifested as you design it.”

That’s when I created the second part of this saying, “providing life doesn’t have something better in mind.”

A dear friend of mind just went through a common exercise in job hunting. She found an opportunity that seemed just right for her, she thought. The job would involve many of the things she likes to do – event planning, working with all kinds of people, traveling. She prayed for this job. She drooled over this job. She imagined her life wrapped around it. She wanted it more than she had wanted anything. But, alas, someone else was chosen because that person had more job experience in the needed areas. What we talked about after she recovered from her disappointment was that she needed to get some experience in those areas herself by not starting at the top but working her way up.

Getting a particular job or a particular man or anything else involves many elements, wants and goals all around. What I have found is that what eventually happens, happens for the best. With a little time, looking back at a previous disappointment may look like the greatest break we could have had. There we are, back again needing to trust life.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Video Musing "Sometimes Talking To A Friend..." by Sally Huss

2008-09-08T13:02:22-05:00

Sally Huss comments on her Happy Musing "Sometimes talking to a friend means more than what is said."

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Fall in Love with Life by Sally Huss

2008-09-03T11:42:06-05:00

"Fall in love with life. Life is already in love with you."

If one would live by this motto, one would live happily ever after. That’s all that one would have to do.

To do it, one has to realize the truth of this statement – “life is in love with you.” It is true now and always. But how to know this, the knowing that comes from experiencing? I suppose, by trying it out, by just imagining, pretending, that “life is in love with you.” It doesn’t mean that life won’t bump you around a little here and there. After all, as much as we love our children, they need to be set straight now and then too. Still it takes nothing away from the fact that we, like they, are loved.

Now once this part of the equation is conceded (the “life is in love with you” part) the next step is to make sure that “you fall in love with life.” Fall in love with life even when you are getting bumped around and perhaps even because of it. It is only out of love that we are corrected.

That’s the whole enchilada – the giving and receiving of this life’s love.

As I contemplate this thought there is only one thing that could pose a hang-up to realizing this in its totality. And that is if one feels unworthy in some way and refuses to accept the “life is in love with you” part. Now to get around this stumbling block, one must also realize that one is one with life and therefore one is always and forever worthy, no matter how many dumb things one might have done. Each of us needs to get over it as quickly as possible – this sense of unworthiness when we’ve done something really stupid. In a snap of the fingers you can be free to accept that “life is in love with you” and then “fall in love with life” all over again.

Carry on!

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.comSign up for our Happy News at: http://www.sallyhuss.com/signup.htm

c 2008 Sally Huss

Dogs! Don’t You Love ‘Em? by Sally Huss

2008-08-28T13:02:43-05:00

"Dogs have their place in a home, usually at the head of the family."

Don’t you just love dogs? They have as many personalities as people, but they are not people. Yet those dog lovers among us who hold their dogs in such high regard are not quite so sure. This is what I have noticed: those people who love their dogs beyond all else, make them the center of attention in most situations and in some cases – head of the household.

There are a million types of homes and living situations and a million types of dogs to go with them. Some dogs have the benefit of being able to run freely on a farm or ranch. Some may be lucky enough to have a backyard to romp in. Still others are restricted to life inside a home or an apartment. And none of this seems to have anything to do with the size of the dog. Once a person falls in love with a dog, that person makes room for that dog within his or her particular living space.

To me a dog is still a dog. I welcome them in my gallery. I play with them, flirt with them, give them a pat on the head and a bowl of water. I see them and interact with them as if they were young children – playful, cuddly, but destined never to grow up. I enjoy many dogs in my life – my son’s dogs, the dogs on my walk to work, the dogs that stop by the gallery and say hello, but I do not own one and one does not own me.

I have owned dogs in the past and that is probably why I wrote this verse. We had a dachshund who was nothing more than a Hitler. He ruled our every move. We had to trick him into being captured in order to isolate him when we wanted to go out for dinner. Then there was the sweetest dog we ever had – Sara. Picked up by the pound people, she was found roaming the streets with her pup. The pup was adopted first. Then we got Sara. She lay at my feet for hours while I painted. I found the most incredible home for her to go to when I knew I was no longer going to have space for her. We said our goodbyes and she never looked back. I have never really been an “owner” of a dog, more like a holding tank until the proper owner came forward. I have loved my dogs and I can see why they can easily be head of a family.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Video Musing "To Win Means Something, But..." by Sally Huss

2008-08-27T11:05:04-05:00

Sally Huss comments on her Happy Musing " To win mean something, but..."

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

LOVE LOST! by Sally Huss

2008-08-20T13:38:49-05:00

"A day without love is a day lost."

As we move more into the practical side of life – filling a gas tank, paying our mortgage, outfitting the kids for school, etc. – it is easy to leave love behind. Yet, when we think about it, it is really love that we seek. Love and happiness go hand in hand, so whether it is love we seek or happiness, it is really the same. But it is that feeling of euphoria that sometimes goes missing. Now, the key, it seems to me, is to keep love pumping in our hearts as we attend to our everyday activitiesl.

A meal tastes better when the element of love (prana or chi) has been added. The line at Costco is more pleasant with a smile on our face or at least one inside. A day at work or looking for work is far more enjoyable when the idea that love surrounds each of us is held.

Don’t leave love out of your day. It is there for taking – inside and outside. A day without love is a day or even a moment lost. Love is a habit that must not be forgotten.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Video Musing "Hard bodies are better with soft hearts" by Sally Huss

2008-08-19T12:14:31-05:00

Sally Huss comments on her Happy Musing "Hard bodies are better with soft hearts."

I would like to add you to my friends' list. Please make a commnet if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

(To view my gallery of original are and peek at my extensive line of bright and happy products, including The Happy Book, bibs, nursery wall decor, totes and purses, and gifts with thoughtful thoughts, go to: www.sallyhuss.com.)

Email: Sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

DON’T MISS A GREAT DAY by Sally Huss

2008-08-15T11:55:27-05:00

"Great days fill a calendar, each one taking you closer to realizing the greatness of which you are a part."

This is a thought worth contemplating. I wrote it over two years ago, but as I look at it now it has greater meaning.

If we start with the idea that we are a part of something very great indeed and we are only learning about this greatness and our participation in it day by day, life becomes more significant. It seems fuller, richer and more purposeful. With this point of view our little lives with their petty irritations seem to pale. We become aware that we are living for something greater than these small activities that become our preoccupations. We are living for something greater than ourselves whether we know it or not. That’s the point of making sure we know that each day is great, not just in our personal realm, but in the big picture. It might help us make better choices and treat each other with greater care. I hope so.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss

Got Neighbors? by Sally Huss

2008-08-14T10:34:48-05:00

"Neighbors are nice, but even nicer are neighbors who are friends."

Neighbors? Where are they? Everywhere, but in many cases not a friend in sight! That’s the best – to have neighbors who are friends.

People under 50 may not remember what it was like in the “old days” when neighbors were not just people you knew, but were also friends. Today with so much movement and personal disconnection it is rare to have neighbors you know and still rarer to have neighbors you could call friends.

I don’t know how typical I am, but since I have been married (32 years) I have moved 28 times! And presently I’m in a rental for a year and have my eyes open to where I’ll go next. One of my employees, who is 28 years old, has lived in the same small cottage for five years. She knows everyone in her complex and they are all friends.

On the street where I live now, I know my neighbors on both sides well enough to wave to in passing. But then several doors down the way is a lovely couple who are friends. Not close, but friends. Mary and John won my heart when they left a little container of pistachio nuts on my doorstep. We chat now and she visits my gallery on her walks with Scrumptious, her golden retriever.

That was the way of people in North Carolina when we lived there for a few years. People welcomed a newcomer with a little gift of fruit or flowers. Of course in North Carolina there was little movement. People stayed put and also people had time to spend getting to know one another. It was lovely. I’m glad I had time there when our son was very young. The pace there nurtured neighborliness and everyone was assumed to be a friend.

Smiles,

Sally

“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

I would like to add you to my friends’ list. Please make a comment if you like. I am trying to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com

c 2008 Sally Huss