Some inspiring thoughts from Lee Pryke:

Life has been busy for me and I have not written in a couple of weeks. What it has shown me is the importance of cherishing the moment and loving the day we have been given to the fullest. After spending the day with my best friend at the funeral home (a place I never go) I realized how important it is to appreciate and cherish the day that we have TODAY.

Two friends transitioned recently and no previous warning. One was in critical condition and thankfully pulled through. It just came in the middle of the night through heart attacks and left their loved ones wondering what happened. We all know that we live a specific time on this earth and hope that it is a long time. In doing so, we get lazy. Yes, how many times have you said “I can do that tomorrow”..but what if tomorrow doesn’t come?

We need to live, laugh and love TODAY as if there is NO tomorrow and in doing so we remind ourselves of those precious moment we all take for granted. When your partner leaves for work do you stop and give them a kiss? Do you hug your kids and tell them how much you love them? When you really want to get your hair done do you or do you put it off for another day because something else seems more important. What about that beautiful china in the cabinet? When was the last time for no reason at all, did you decide to serve a meal on it JUST BECAUSE.

So many authors write about Living in the Now like Eckart Tolle, and Ram Dass, but do we listen or do we wait until it is too late to really forget about the WHAT IF’S and just DO IT…..TODAY!
Tim McGraw wrote a song I love called Live Like You Were Dying. Listen to it if you can as it really shows you how important it is to cherish every moment of TODAY and do all the things you want to do that are for the betterment of your higher self and those around you. When you lay your head on the pillow tonight you will smile and know that you did the best that you could do TODAY and be blessed in the morning when once again you are given yet another Fantastic 24 hours to do it all over again.

(Lee Pryke)

www.iamican.ca

When the love of your life recalls returns to his Samurai roots and you, yourself, feel strongly that you wish to be a yogi, where does the twain meet? Does it meet? Can it meet? They are both disciplined, noble pursuits. Should he wish to spend some time in Japan to further his dream, naturally I would be supportive. However, how much of one’s own dreams are to be sacrificed for the dreams of another? To me, the answer is clear. I cannot sacrifice my own dreams for the Samurai warrior, but perhaps a new dream can be manifested that we can share? Too often, I see couples that have sacrificed deeply for the love of their partner, and although this too would seem to be a noble, I don’t think it’s necessary. We are all the masters of our universe and of our destinies. I want to be a Yogi. I want to suck all of the marrow from the writings of the ancient Indian sages. I have read Paramahansa’s Autobiography of a Yogi so often that the book is falling apart and yet every time I open it, a new revelation strikes me. I wish to really understand the counsel of Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita, and to be able to read Sanskrit. I want to have deep discussions over the writings of Pantanjali and explore many of the sutras. Can a Samurai and a Yogi have a future together? Perhaps with love, communication, and understanding, anything is possible.

In trying to think about the meaning of Thanksgiving, I would like to share an e-mail that I received over this long weekend. It touched me profoundly:

8am Sunday morning, the sun is just beginning to rise and the sky is a hazy blue and I feel blessed and full of gratitude that I’m here to observe the beginning of a beautiful day. Seven days ago at 8am I suffered a massive heart attack and for me this beautiful world stood still, the title of a movie comes to mind “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Yes, indeed, it is a beautiful day!

I’m filled with gratitude for all of the wonderful friends I have whose love I was surrounded with during my fight for life, as they administered what the doctor referred to as “The Blockbuster Drug” or super Draino to clear the plugged arteries in my heart. The doctor referred to me as a ‘stoic little man’. Little did he know that during those critical hours and days that followed, I was surrounded by a warm blanket of love from all of you, which gave me the power and fortitude to recover.

I look upon this event as another manifested Miracle in my life, of which there have been many. It is “Thanksgiving”, and indeed, I have much to be thankful for having such wonderful friends to walk the sands of time with on this beautiful planet Earth.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.