Penny Casselman [00:00:00]:
Hello, director. I am celebrating Thanksgiving with some family in Southern California. As I mentioned last week, one of the benefits of doing this podcast for more than a year is that I do have previous episodes to pull from. I looked back at what I had done for Thanksgiving last year, and it's such a good episode. It has such great insights and perspectives that I am choosing to recast it again this year with you. And director, if you have yet to develop a gratitude practice, I would invite you to think about starting one today because you will find when you begin to find gratitude in your life, how amazing everything is around you, how much more appreciation you have for everything in your life. Today, I am grateful for airplanes that take me cross country to spend time with family. I'm grateful for food and friendship.
Penny Casselman [00:01:06]:
I'm grateful for you as you've listened to this podcast. I'm grateful for palm trees. And I am grateful for this life where I am the director and I get to choose where my focus goes and what my future looks like, and I want the same for you. So with that, happy Thanksgiving if you happen to be listening in the United States. But regardless of where you find yourself, I have gratitude for you. Thank you, and enjoy the episode.
Penny Casselman [00:01:41]:
Welcome to the Pivot with Passion podcast. Hi. I'm Penny Castleman. I believe everyone is deserving of a phenomenal life, and that life starts when you grab a red marker and claim what you truly desire. Regardless of where you came from, where you're at, or where you think you're headed, life is what you make of it. And when you learn to pivot with passion, your world explodes with opportunities. Go grab your favorite beverage and let's shake things up as we explore how to pivot with passion. In this season of Thanksgiving, I'd want to say thank you so much for taking time out of your day to spend it with me.
Penny Casselman [00:02:30]:
The first time I was introduced to the, quote, thankful relay, I was not with my family. And this is something I certainly did not do growing up. But at the Thanksgiving celebration I was at, before we all dove into the food, We stood in a circle in the dining room, and the host started the relay by saying, we're going to go around, and everyone's gonna take a moment and say what they're thankful for. My heart started beating, and my palms started to get sweaty because I was frantically thinking of what was I going to say. And every time I came up with something perfect to say, somebody else blurted it out before it got to my turn. I was freaking out. You see, we were all going for the easy low hanging fruit with what we would say. I'm thankful for family.
Penny Casselman [00:03:27]:
I'm thankful for friends. I'm thankful for delicious food. You know, you get it, the easy things, the good things. But now that I've done that, quote, thankful relay, numerous times throughout my life, I started to really understand and embrace that you can also be thankful for things that seemed awful in the moment. My challenge to you is to find some good beyond the easy superficial things that get thrown around when you have a, quote, thankful relay. Today, I'll share with you some food for thought, something you can chew on over this holiday and Thanksgiving season, and help you find a new slice of thankful from your year thus far. And, yes, you can be thankful that I'll stop with the puns. But I know if you're anything like me, the holidays can completely throw curveballs, and I know I'm often having to navigate unexpected challenges.
Penny Casselman [00:04:41]:
Things like, wait. I thought you were bringing the pie, or what? I'm here an hour early, or wait, we were supposed to bring a gift? Yeah. There are so many times where our expectations and reality don't quite meet up. It's in those moments where we can so benefit from finding thankfulness when things go wrong. It's time for a clarity cocktail. 2 months ago, I was invited to join a 6 week personal development group, and it was all about exploring how we view the world, how we can help ourselves to be better humans, especially when we encountered resistance or conflict. And it was such an eye opening journey for me. Today, I wanna share a parable that was used during our time together.
Penny Casselman [00:05:56]:
I'd never heard it before. I have to say it's one of my favorites. I have almost committed it to memory, but I'm going to read you the story because it so beautifully ties in to the topic of today. With that, I present the story of the stallion and the farmer. An old farmer lives on his farm with his teenage son. He also has a beautiful stallion that he lovingly cares for. The farmer enters his stallion into the annual county fair competition, and his stallion wins first prize. The farmer's neighbors gather to congratulate him on this great win.
Penny Casselman [00:06:41]:
He calmly says, who knows what is good and what is bad? Puzzled by his reaction, the neighbors go away. The next week, some thieves who heard about the stallion's win and therefore increased value steal the horse. When the neighbors come to commiserate with the farmer, they find him again very calm and gathered. He says, who knows what is good and what is bad? Several days later, the spirited stallion escapes from the thieves and finds his way back to the farm, bringing with him a few wild mares he befriended along the way. To his neighbors' excited rounds of congratulations, the old farmer once again says, who knows what is good and what is bad? A few weeks later, the farmer's son is thrown off of one of these new mares as he tries to break it in, and he fractures his leg. As the neighbors gather to commiserate with the old farmer, once again, he reminds them, who knows what is good and what is bad? The following week, the imperial army marches through the village, gathering all eligible young men for the war that has just broken out. The old farmer's son is spared due to his fractured leg. The neighbors no longer bother to come to the old farmer to congratulate him.
Penny Casselman [00:08:15]:
By now, they know what his response will be. Who knows what is good and what is bad? My friend, I hope you enjoyed that beautiful story and how it ties into being thankful for everything that we are given and that we encounter. Imagine the next time you encounter a disappointment or a setback, I want you to just take a pause, shake up your perspective, and lean on this story. And I know there are plenty of times where when you are in the thick of disappointment or an interaction or an outcome, you cannot embrace this story. I know when the doctor confirmed my cancer diagnosis, there is no way I could lean on this story and see the gift that was given to me in having cancer. Now that I am 5 years out, I am able to put things in perspective and realize the numerous gifts, the numerous is it good? Is it bad? Who knows moments that I can take away from that. For instance, I wrote a book about it. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would ever write a book, and I did.
Penny Casselman [00:09:43]:
I also was kind of the canary in the coal mine for my entire family. Because through my cancer diagnosis, I found out I was a BRCA 2 carrier. And for those of you that don't understand what that is, it simply means I inherited a malfunctioning gene that predisposes me to numerous types of cancer. No one knew that before I had it. I get that when you're in the thick of things, it's not possible to find the gift. But I hope during this time of Thanksgiving and as we head into the holidays when stressors can run high, I hope that you're able to pause and reflect so that you can move forward with optimism that some of the difficult interactions, disappointing outcomes that you have experienced, whether it was in the last 60 days, the last 6 months, 6 years, that you will be able to find the gift in what you went through. And now back to the episode, cheers. Circling back to finding a slice of goodness.
Penny Casselman [00:11:04]:
Yeah. I did it again. Funny girl. Finding a slice of something good. One of the biggest obstacles I've had to overcome over the years is tying my happiness or gratitude or thankfulness to someone else or to a circumstance. I can only speak for myself in these instances, but holidays are especially difficult for me for numerous reasons, but I've gotten much better at adapting and being thankful for the things that I do have. Because the old me would be thinking if only that person would apologize or I would lament, why me? Which really just left me feeling disappointed and sad. And in turn, I wasn't able to be present in the moment with people who did lift me up and who were supportive and sparking joy during this holiday time.
Penny Casselman [00:12:10]:
And honestly, it's no wonder I found it so difficult because think of all those Hallmark movies that we are bombarded with every holiday season. Everything works out. Everyone apologizes. Nobody's left lamenting at the end, and it seemingly turns out perfect. So having that input and trying to match it with our reality can really cause some havoc. I know it did for me, and maybe it does the same for you. But I challenge you to, again, lean on that stallion and farmer story. That has been so instrumental just in the past few months for me to embrace that every hardship I have endured over the past 2 holiday seasons.
Penny Casselman [00:13:08]:
I'm now able to say that they gave me a gift. It's difficult. Don't get me wrong. But I'm growing, and I'm learning through this whole process. Sometimes you will not be able to embrace the gift in a challenge. I know for me, when the doctor confirmed that I had cancer, it sucked. There was no pennies finding the good in what she's going through. No.
Penny Casselman [00:13:38]:
It was just kinda survival at that point. But now on the other side, I can see the gifts. Here's what I want you to know. There are gifts in everything that you go through. I want you to feel empowered to take a pause and choose to view a past interaction or circumstance and find the gift, because then you can get excited about using that gift to enjoy what you have and propel yourself into a beautiful new year ahead. If you are a listener in the United States, have a delicious Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to find pockets of time to enjoy family or friends, food, good movies, good sporting events, and cherish this little slice of downtime before the full on Christmas crush comes. And for those of you outside of the United States, know that I am eternally grateful for you.
Penny Casselman [00:14:49]:
Take care. Friend, thanks for listening to this episode of Pivot with Passion. If you've been feeling stuck, exhausted, or frustrated, this is your permission slip to go grab a red marker and claim the life you desire and deserve. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and then hop over to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Because my goal is to put a red marker in everyone's hand, and I need your help to spread the word and make that happen. Until the next episode, go grab a red marker, get excited for your future, and make your first move to pivot with passion.
