The past few weeks have been moving slowly at first and now faster than one can imagine. We love Mike Lee the new owner of our precious Academy (PAMA) and have spent lots of time and energy assisting him in getting the new place spiffy and ready for the official public Open House celebration and Rick has continued to instruct through January. Yes, the business was sold in December but days have been filled with settling up the business and tax matters, organizing our personal matters to take place in our absence, and finally packing for a jaunt starting out in a foreign country. The new PAMA is settling in and my family and myself are getting ready to set out.
We are setting off this Sunday (to parts disclosed on my next blog – bye-bye snow!). With all of the lead-time before our outward journey began we have graciously received an outpouring of love and well wishes for our future endeavors. Truly – the Love You Make is Equal to the Love You Take. We have had a few, very few people say Well Must Be Nice guised in a statement of “Lucky You” – no well wishes added.
This journey has very little to do with Luck but lots to do about the choices that we make in life and the courage to follow through on those choices. Now this is where the peaceful warrior and the hero come into play as the great Joseph Campbell would say. A hero is not just someone who saves someone’s life nor is a warrior a person that runs around fighting all the time. A hero is someone who goes beyond where others may go to bring something back for the good of others as well as for themselves, but the hero needs the warrior to keep up this tough journey whatever it may be. Now, people may say so what is so tough about taking time off and traveling. If it wasn’t in one sense tough and different from what most people as a family would do, then many more people would do it.
There is a commercial on HGTV it says… “You don’t have to be rich to move to Hawaii you just have to want it”. And that’s what it is really about, if you want it badly enough you will find a way. Rick began his hero’s journey way back when he was 18 and determined against all odds to learn the art of Bruce Lee, a story to be shared at a later date. Overcoming many, many obstacles and ups and downs he persevered. Because of that determination thousands of students have benefited over the years. That is the mindset of the peaceful warrior, and a hero’s journey. Another quote that we love is “This is your world shape it or someone else will” by Gary Lew. Lucky? Well, we very well may hit the lottery but no such luck yet. Blessed? Hell yes! Rick, 20 years my senior began working at the age of 13, I began at the age of 15 and we both have been completely self-sufficient our whole adult lives. Our strong will served and will continue to serve us well.
As those who are business owners know, in a service-based industry and something you are passionate about, your heart and soul are poured into every crevasse. These adventures we are about to partake in are not only about “fun” but to allow us the freedom that owning a business did not provide. The freedom from everyday life, to open our minds and explore ourselves on a deeper level and truly understand what shifts we need and want to make in ourselves and how to contribute to the world in a larger way. There are even parts of our journey that will allow us to assist and work with others along the way.
So to all those reading, thank you for the well wishes and love. Wishing you all your own internal and external explorations and the courage to live and dream on a grand scale. Also, for the “Lucky You(s)” I wish you love and even more valor because feelings of jealousy are no more than a mask for fear.
It is fitting that the Open House for PAMA at the new location will be this Saturday, February 1st, and we leave early in the AM on Sunday. Both are setting out on their paths.
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha
Living Wherever We Are 