I have found a new love in a new place. His name is Pickleball and he makes me feel young again. With my hair in a ponytail, and paddle in hand, I jump around the court channeling my 16-year-old tennis-playing-self with great enthusiasm. During a break, I take a seat on the bench next to a man who is looking a bit tuckered out. When I spot a penny lying on the ground, I automatically pick it up and set it next to the man. “Find a penny pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck,” I say cheerfully. “Well,” he says in a gravelly voice, “you do know that it is April Fool’s Day. That just might be a bad penny!” Now, I doubt that he remembered that my name is Penny, so I just laugh and remind him that pennies are from heaven. His face lights-up and his entire demeanor softens. Two days later, when I went to play pickleball, I found out that the man had died early that morning from a sudden bacterial infection. I send him love from afar and was glad that we were able to share a moment of joy together.
The world is changing and though chaos is in our daily news, I do believe it is our mission to spread positive energy into every moment we are able. Einstein is credited with saying, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.” What greater gift can we give the world than our love and compassion? Energy is contagious and we all have the alchemical skills to transmute negativity back into light with every thought and action we take. This is why I love the quote by Anne Herbert, “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.” We just never know what the domino effects may be as we do so.
The trick is to let go of any sense of reward for doing what we can. Last month as I drove by a homeless man who was carrying a sign asking for help, I gave him a silent prayer for his wellbeing and a twenty-dollar bill. Ten minutes later, my jeep broke down as I was making a left hand turn into heavy two-lane traffic. I was so panicked as the horns started blasting that I had trouble remembering where my emergency flashers were. I needed a tow and five-thousand dollars’ worth of repair work. That quote, “no good deed goes unpunished,” did cross my mind as I mulled over the turn of events. But then I was able to quiet my thoughts and my nerves, and I remembered that it could have been a whole lot worse. After all, I was unharmed and no one else got hurt either. Maybe if I hadn’t stopped for that man who needed help, a whole new set of inattentive drivers would have been in my path, and an even worse outcome may have befallen me.
So many people have asked me over the years what their purpose for being here is. There definitely are individual paths people are guided to follow. However, one assignment we are all given is to live life with a great sense of wellbeing regardless of circumstance!
May you live your life to your highest good and deepest joy! Blessings Be!!!
Pen Augustin is author of Waves of Light and The Priestess Tale series. Pen loves to give messages about how we can heal ourselves and bring balance to our beloved planet. Living near the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, she enjoys spending time in nature and communing with the local wildlife.