Rehearsing a New Future
1. Dying to Figure this Out
Our conversations at home have taken a deep dive into mortality and potentiality.
When I played ice hockey in high school I learned about ‘sudden death.’
The NHL says. “The sudden death period can bring excitement and heartbreak, depending on which team comes out on top.” It happens when the game goes into overtime.
“During overtime, the rules of the game change slightly…
With such high stakes on the line, every play and every shot can make all the difference.” – NHL
In the past few weeks, our panels of experts have made it clearer that I am in ‘overtime.’
Hmmmm. But maybe everybody is…
Couch Conversations
In the early morning and evening, Terri and I snuggle on the couch with chai close at hand.
Discussing the day, exploring tomorrow’s options and pondering the outcomes of our decisions – short-term and long-term.
I think every family, every couple, every business does the very same thing.
Ours is more focused on healing, recovery, and what does success look like when it includes a funeral.
Mortality and Potentiality
We are about to try a 3rd line chemotherapy drug, that is new to us, but has a history of success. It has the potential to get us out of sudden death overtime and back into the game of life that is no longer so totally focused on cancer care.
Terri reminds me to keep rehearsing this new future that begins in a week or so.
A future of success that brings forward a clear strong mind and a stronger connection to love. Stronger than ever before.
2. Nature is our Friend
Friday afternoon we drove home through torrential rainstorms after bone radiation.
I looked at the darkening sky as said to Terri, “nature is our friend.”
At that moment she pulled into the driveway to discover a huge tree had fallen onto the roof of our new garage.
Nature is our Friend…
Amidst laughter, shock and gawking surprise, we both saw what ‘our friend’ had done.
Repairs are underway. But the surprise still lingers.
Cancer, like Nature, is my Mitra
Mitra — a true friend — is one who protects you from danger and deception; a loving guide that keeps you safe. It is a Sanskrit word that explains the very spirit of friendship; loosely translated as friend.
It is the spiritual virtue that prevents the mind from meeting its own destruction and ensures that we continue walking toward our destination with all safety and protection.
When I refer to my cancer and nature as my friend, it means I recognize both as beneficial forces that are here to protect me and guide me. I hold others that I refer to as friends with same high esteem. It is not a term I use lightly nor commonly. Thus, I have very few friends.
Our family expands this definition to mean that we are referring to someone who will be there to hold our hair out of the way when we are vomiting into the toilet while being sick with the stomach flu.
mitra = mi + tra
mi = violence, destruction, disintegration
tra = power of protection, nurturance, the guiding and protective force
The word maitri, the essence of friendliness, pleasantness, and lovingness, is found in Chapter 1 of the Yoga Sutra, verse 33.
Fortunate is one who has a least one true friend in their life.
Terri and I enjoyed guessing at what the fallen tree was protecting us from.
3. Overtime — when the Rules of the Game Change…slightly…
A dear family friend surprised me the other day with a question about astrology.
I knew that she was sincere and must be seeking some guidance out of either simple curiosity or hoping to gain an insight about a personal concern.
Since we had never broached this topic, I wanted to first understand what we are solving for. So, I began with my common questions:
Are you studying astrology?
Do you read your daily horoscope?
Has someone been guiding you using astrology?
— Her answers were ‘no’ to my questions and that she was looking for some insights.
So, then my test questions began.
• Of all the planets, moons and stars, which one has the greatest influence over you? I was very pleased with her answer, “earth” she replied.
• What part of the earth has the strongest influence over your life, your past, present, and future? Once again, her answer was spot on! “My home, my place of work and my place of recreation hold the greatest influences.”
With these answers I knew that I was in the presence of a very practical and intelligent young woman. Thus, I began to explain the basic principles of jyotish – vedic astrology.
Joytish or ‘the Vedic science of astrology’ which is the science of light and how it reveals the knowledge of form and friction (fire) and of time and temper (personality). We all equate time with the position of the sun, from sunrise and sunset.
Later this can be expanded to include the rising and setting of the moon, the positions of the houses of the zodiac and their corresponding 27 constellations. However, the true insights that can be most easily accessed and applied in daily life focus on our lifestyle and the flow of our breath.
Like attracts like.
If you want to study the science of light, eat more light.
Here is a little secret… increase your consumption of light…Eat Plants!
The main diet of plants is drinking the light of the sun. Sunlight is stored in greens, grains and precious gems. Vitamin D-3 is a vitamin containing the energy of the sun.
That is why plants are known as ‘drinkers of light’ [think: photosynthesis]. Astronomy and astrology are based on the science of light and how the beams and forces of these “light bearers” (suns and stars) deliver the power of light.
Vedic astrology inspires us to consume more light (at the dining table) to further brighten our insights and access to all sciences.
It is easy to become a victim to all the lights and shiny things outside of us, while astrology gently inspires us to seek the light within us. This leads us to ‘inner vision’ or ‘insight.’ The ability to solve our own problems.
Seek and enhance the light within you.
The digestive fire of the solar plexus brings the light contained in the food we eat into our body. Using the power of digestion and respiration we can learn to re-invest the light’s vitality for health and problem solving.
4. Game Changer
— Exploring new ways to use my breath and diet for deeper healing…
as I rehearse a new future with a little nudge from the stars above!
It sounds really interesting to me…how about you?
Time for me to go for a stroll with a new light of understanding.
The Bible says to “Walk while there is Light.”
Tomorrow is a time when the moon gets brighter.
So…
Time to go for a stroll…
Love,
Terri and Blair
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Fear is selfish.
Courage is selfless.