Summer 2012 -- Finding Balance
Dear Friends
The other night at Kickboxing class, Grand Master Le Blanc was explaining to us that there are over 1,100 forms of martial arts: familiar styles like judo and karate: surprising styles, to me anyway, like boxing and wrestling; and many, many styles most of us have never even heard of. The oldest styles of martial arts came into being shortly after the first humans appeared on Earth, and among all these different styles there are soft martial arts and hard martial arts. Tai chi, with its smooth, flowing, dance-like movements is a soft martial art, while the forceful kicks, strikes, punches, and blocks used in Karate demonstrate a hard martial art. The form of Kickboxing I’m learning is a combination of both, a balance between soft and hard, and the more time I spend at the studio, the more I’m also learning that balance, soft and hard, can be found in almost every area of daily life.
Just a few days ago my husband and I came to the painful decision that it was time to let our beautiful Australian Shepherd go. We had 10 wonderful years with Wanda. She kept our boys safe when they were small, she provided a comfort and healing for each of us when words simply would not help, and she loved us unconditionally every single moment of her life. As hard as it was to say good bye, it was time. She had lost her balance and the only way for her to get it back was for us to let her go. Each day was more difficult for her than the one before,
and even though she tried to keep it from us, it was evident that the balance in Wanda’s life was gone; the hard far outweighed the soft. The difficult choice for us was the best choice for her.
Now, since losing Wanda, I am finding a balance between missing her and remembering the wonderful years we shared. I am taking Grand Master’s advice and striving for balance in each moment, no matter how small. My hope is that you will try to do the same. That you will fill your days with equal parts work and play, rest and activity, serious contemplation and hilarity, giving and receiving, yin and yang — that you will find balance.
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