Tag: Life Changing

Gratitude At the Break

by Living Wherever We Are, posted in Life Lessons, Travel, World Travel

Most mornings on our trip to Costa Rica a monkey awakens me.   The primate I hear is not the screeching of a howler monkey mind you, willfully I sleep through the sounds of those, the loudest land animals, each dawn.  A 3-½ year old curled in my arms wakes me with whispers to set out to go to the beach and romp in the waves at nearly past 6am. We began this schedule each trip to Nosara, 4x now since she was born, and it is a precious time for both of us.  There is solitude and unity in those precious few minutes alone when neither individual feels the overwhelming need to communicate in words while winding down the path to the sand.

Howler monkey outside our hotel
Howler monkey outside our hotel

Now that she is old enough to comprehend, when we reach the shoreline and gaze into the waves as the sun is rising and share moments of gratitude.  I lead the words of the new day with something simple such as  “Gracias, gracias, gracias for ……” or “Thank you for all our blessings and our gifts”.  The words reverberate in the little spirit next to me who sometimes repeats verbatim but mostly adds her own thoughts as the novel daylight reaches forward.  Of all the times we have recited this simple sign of gratefulness to the universe she, amazingly for a child, never adds anything trite and senses the significance in her earnest terms.

At the Break

We stand with the waves rushing towards our toes and steer to move deeper to get thigh high for my counterpart.  Now no longer a novice in the waves, there is an ease that she now places on her approach.  Her awareness of the breaks is present but with care and ease and barely a pause in her reactions she assesses each with split second pronouncements. The unfettered mind of a child: Jump the wave? Set and take the wave as it is? Ride it, swimming in? Or if needed reach for a hand to assist.

Ah, the bliss of clarity in gauging the moment as it comes lucidly.  Along with it comes a lesson for us all, to perceive in transparency without allowing the measure of our own thoughts and emotions to crash upon us with each swell – Seeing each surge as an opportunity as opposed to a challenge.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  – John F. Kennedy

Our small token we left in Nosara was a tree we planted with the Harmony Hotel’s “Plant a Tree” program to compensate for the hotel’s carbon emissions during our stay.

Planting a tree @ the Harmony Hotel

**The Harmony Hotel maintains a five-leaf rating from Costa Rica’s prestigious Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST).

Deconstructing a Lifetime One Weapon at a Time

by Living Wherever We Are, posted in Embracing Uncertainty, Martial Arts

This week presented the challenge of compressing 5800 sq. ft. academy/second home and almost 27 years into a modest 10×15 storage unit.  I liken it to the natural birth of our 9lb 2oz baby.  While the later culminated with embracing a gleaming cherub, the former not nearly as attractive, both seem to have defied the possible and given a great sense of triumph.  Although we premeditated well ahead of time the contracting of these past few weeks, the forethought did not make it any less agonizing.

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The arduous process of sorting through administration has a way of pulling you out of the emotional and into the rational.  There is no sentimentality in sorting through ancient receipts and maturing paperwork.  Although, I will say that the stacks of paper set for destruction and shredding gave a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.  Just like a home, one seems to expand into the space, and we sure did at PAMA.  I have been known to be zealous when it comes to shedding and giving away unnecessary items.  There is a certain sense of bliss in that it for me.   (Anyone need any picture frames?)

As you can tell from the video, the collections and collections of martial arts weaponry (all of which are NOT included here), personal equipment, books, and memorabilia are immense.  I am thankful that we all share the same enthusiasm for the Martial Arts so the collections will continue to be appreciated.  After moving everything into storage our daughter’s only protest was that she wanted her wooden dummy back!

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For Rick, I applaud him for his poise and grace as we undressed the walls of his numerous certificates, honors, and magazine articles.  All of which must have given him pause, as it did me, to deconstruct a lifetime of accomplishment and dedication. Stripping not just the physical but also, the attachment that is held in all of the honors and titles that he rightfully earned through years of sweat and determination.  I admired one last time the wall of his honored instructors/teachers and stood in awe at the boxes and boxes of private lessons and seminars videos that he has retained as well as his massive amounts of personal notebooks.

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Interestingly, as we delicately packed the moving truck with collectables, weapons, historical martial arts periodicals and photographic memories one would anticipate sadness but there was lots of laughter and our hearts were light.  It is freeing in a way to know that the “stuff” is just material items and really does not define us.

In closing, I would like to quote one of Ricks all time favorite artists Paul McCartney from one of his solo albums.  It is very fitting for Rick at this time.

“It’s the same me that stands here now

When I think that all this stuff

Can make a life that’s pretty hard to take it in, that was me”

Embracing Uncertainty

by Living Wherever We Are, posted in Embracing Uncertainty
Rick beginning to pack his office up. These bookshelves used to be completely full and overflowing!
Rick beginning to pack his office up. These bookshelves used to be completely full and overflowing!

The choice was made in a moment but we had talked, contemplated, and deliberated about what we were going to do for quite some time as only two Scorpios can.  The decision was made to move on from Princeton Academy of Martial Arts, a thriving martial arts mecca he had built, cultivated, and loved for almost 27 years and the life changing place that I had trained and taught for over 15 ½ years – but we would be transitioning far more then that.  The decision was made to move on from all of it, the academy as well as the traditional rules we have been told by society we must play by.  More money, more money, work and work, first for yourself then for your children until (maybe if you are lucky) retirement when you are too old or tired or set in your ways to enjoy each moment of unfettered experiences.

We have decided to step beyond it all and sell the business to our trusted friend and student then to deconstruct our lives completely.  Upon hearing the news about selling the business everyone’s first question – What are you going to do next?  To answer the question – Nothing, everything, and anything.  We are putting everything we own in storage, taking a sabbatical, and letting life lead us in the short term and then eventually in the long term.  The response from all has been a mighty WOW and positive encouragement.  And of course some Oh you are lucky — not really luck, this is a choice to put ourselves as individuals and our family first.  We are not independently wealthy but we are independent thinkers.  Anyone could do it, maybe not daring in this huge way but in everyday life and the decision that are made whether they are made from the heart and soul or from the mind, fear, and societal pressures.

To be a true Martial Artist means not only the physical excellence but researching philosophies and examining ourselves on a deep internal level.   We constantly talk and embrace, as true Warriors, courageousness and understanding that it is not truly the fight against ones enemies that we train for but to truly know oneself and how we relate to every situation and adversity.   We are taking this step as warriors not out of fear but out of love.  Allowing ourselves to decompress and to truly align with Spirit and our true selves.  Knowing all of these things, I doubt we will ever look back on this time we are entering and say we wish we had stayed the course instead of following our hearts.  We would not consider it luck but great fortune that we have made a conscious decision to truly Live Wherever We Are.

Stay tuned for more posts on:

–      What brought us to this decision?

–      Where to next?  The where, how, and why.