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.

I woke up this morning feeling as though I’d been trod over by a team of horses. At the close of the day, I feel as though I am standing on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I started off the day with a visit to my favourite ND in Guelph – Dr. Krista Vetter – for a B12 shot. I met several of my enlightening friends at our local Toastmasters meeting, and finally dragged by aching body to Dr. Sheldon Gilchrist at Laurelwood Chiropractic, who performed a miracle on my back and neck. After waking up feeling ready for the sarcophagus, I am ending the day feeling as though I could run a marathon. Caring for oneself is of the utmost importance, and yet so often, it overlooked.

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.