Author: Shawn

With the general grind of modern life, we often forget to stop and smell the roses… or whatever flower suits your fancy. My point is, we get so caught up in the daily grind of doing what’s expected, we forget to enjoy the positive things that happened because of it.

Case in point: Ten years ago I started on a journey that would forever change my life. I quit my job, closed my karate school and left behind all my family and friends to make my way out to the Prairies. I was scared and alone, even though I had travelled across the country with someone. I started a new career and spent years forging myself into a new image of the person I used to be. I progressed. Plans were made and goals were reached.

Somewhere along my journey, I met someone who would join me on my (mis)adventures. She’s put up with some much of my weirdness that I often wonder how she’s still maintaining her sanity. She’s been the living embodiment of for better or worse, as she has been with me through very much of both.

In my line of work, we’re often left feeling alone. And we often feel like we have to face that journey alone. But when my wife stepped into the picture, I knew I would never have to face the journey alone ever again.

I think it’s a wonderful thing when you can be with someone who has you thinking that if you had free choice of any person in the world, you would still choose her.

Tonight, we returned to the town where we met and had supper. That’s it. Just a little thing. It wasn’t an Alaskan cruise or a destination vacation somewhere on the other side of the world. But I got to enjoy a quiet meal with my favourite person in the world. That’s what makes this little thing the biggest. Because when two people can sit in each other’s company fiver years later and still be happy and still have things to talk about, that’s a treasure beyond measure.

The current world population of women sits at 3,599,655,150 world-wide. You know how most people say “Hey, look at her! She’s one in a million”? That’s a cute sentiment, but my wife? She’s one in 3.6 billion. And I’m the one who got her. Sorry guys, she’s taken!

Happy 5-year anniversary to my wife. Here’s hoping she can put up with my weirdness for another 5! ❤️

Friendships are important. As I’ve written in previous posts, humans are pack animals, much to the chagrin of those who consider themselves loners. But inherently, we are designed to be amongst our own and to travel in packs. It’s always been this way, and modern society has cultivated that instinct. This is why we gather and build cities and communities.

But what is a friendship? Well, according to what one might find online, a friendship is simply defined as a relationship of mutual affection between people and is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association. Obviously that’s a bit of a fancy way of simply saying that it is a relationship between friends.

There are a lot of benefits to cultivating and maintaining friendships. These might include a sense of belonging, increasing your confidence and self-worth as well as boost your happiness level and reduce stress. Friendships also help get us through the difficult times in our lives as friends tend to be a shoulder to lean on during difficult trials.

Unless you’re a teenager or in your early twenties, a friendship doesn’t necessarily mean you’re hanging out every day or spending full weekends together. But true friendship comes from the occasional communication simply to ask how you’re doing, or to lend aid when needed. Helping a friend pack a moving truck or having their back in a tough situation are good examples. As adults, friendships can be a bit more about the little things and less about the quantity of time spent with said friend. Quality over quantity, I suppose.

These differences are easy to spot. I have people I’ve known literally my entire life who have become too involved or too busy with the grind of daily life to even respond in a timely manner when I reach out. Can this happen? Oh, yes! Life can often make it difficult, and it’s understandable that things get in the way. The flip side to that is that I have some folks (and you know who you are) that I’ve only known for a few short years, some even less than years, who make an effort and reach out often before I can reach out to them.

Sometimes, the willingness to make an effort means more than spending a measurable amount of time together.

And hopefully, some of you will have caught the Tolkien reference I made in my title…

So I’ve often mentioned that it’s important to have goals. Goals are what drive us. We use them to define who we are, what we do and what steps we take in life. But an important part of having goals is to dream. Dreaming is essential.

Dreaming about future goals will help you to achieve them. We learn this from an early age, when we gaze longingly at the picture of the item you asked your parents for Christmas in the Sears catalogue. The last instance I had of this was when the Nintendo GameBoy came out in 1989. (For you younger buggers who aren’t aware of “Sears” or why one would use a catalogue, Google it! I don’t need to age myself further…)

But this concept applies to adult goals as well. Think about something you really want out of life… I don’t mean the extravagant goals that most people have, like being famous or getting rich; although this concept could apply to that as well. After all, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

There can be a number of benefits if you daydream. Thinking and daydreaming about your goals can help you relax, helps to release stress and as you focus on goals you’ll think of things that will help you achieve said goals. As long as your daydreaming time doesn’t interfere with your work or your home obligations, you’re golden. Picture sitting at your desk, leaning on one hand with your eyes cast off into the distance with a small trickle of drool hanging down… You know who you are!

Working on goals and accomplishing them has been linked to happier overall lives and better moods, which tends to help a person be more successful. It’s important to keep building goals. Sometimes, when we reach a certain point in our lives, we have a job and/or career and we get settled into a routine, our motivation gets stagnant. And that’s where life grinds to a stand still.

So keep those goals coming! Life won’t get you anywhere unless you keep trying, dreaming and planning. There’ll always be something else to accomplish.

One of the biggest struggles I face when trying to adhere to certain Buddhist habits is noise. The modern world is loaded with noise. Even when you try to sit in silence, in your own home, you can and will often hear a lot of background noise from the environment around you.

Ever try to meditate with an excited four year old running circles around you? (I ask this as my son Nathan is violently bouncing a rubber ball against the walls next to me as I type, despite asking him several times to quiet down!)

The point is that modern life doesn’t allow for a lot of the serenity you would get from more traditional locations. When I visited the Buddhist temples in Narita and Tokyo, one of the first things I noticed was how quiet the environment was, despite being in the midst of a heavy urban centre. Now, these temples have walls, structures and trees that we obviously don’t have the benefit of having here!

The important point I’m making tonight is that you need to find some quiet time for yourself. This doesn’t just apply to Buddhists and people who meditate, but for everyone in general. Even if it means putting time aside when the kids are at school, or taking a quiet walk outside the city, or whatever you can manage. We often allow life in general to get in the way of our well-being; a big part of which requires some quiet time to ourselves (and no, sleep doesn’t count).

And now, my son is having a spa out tantrum in his bed because he refused to put on his pyjamas! I’m in the basement and I can hear him yelling through the floor! Definitely not the serene environment of the Shinsho-ji Temple! But as with all things in life, where there’s a will, there’s a way! Be certain to find that way, and help maintain your mental and emotional well being.

Where does humanity’s honour lie…? And where does friendship end and obligation and duty begin? Sometimes it’s a fine line and we can’t be sure which choice is the most correct. Sometimes, the subject of our friendship doesn’t leave us with much choice…

In 1990, Robert Jordan wrote “Death is lighter than a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain.” The quote always stuck with me, as I’ve read the Eye of the World a number of times. It’s Book One out of Fourteen of the Wheel of Time series. Fantastic read. I highly recommend it, if you have a few years to contribute to such a long series. But absolutely fantastic.

It wouldn’t be until years later, during my studies of the Japanese culture through the martial arts, that I would come to realize that the quote was actually part of a document issued by the Imperial Japanese Army in the early 1880’s.

But what does it mean? I always took it to mean that the duties and obligations of life provided a burden to one’s shoulders akin to Atlas holding up the world; I’ve never contemplated the second part of the quote… Certainly, death comes to us all, but not until we’ve accomplished what we’re here for. But enough of the philosophical…

When a person swears an oath, it has to mean something. One can’t simply swear an oath for the sake of getting what one wants. An oath carries an obligation along with it. In its very definition, an oath states that you are making a solemn promise regarding your future behaviour or actions.

What happens when you’ve sworn oaths that are being violated by a friend? Do you side with the friend? Cast aside your oath in exchange of a moment’s favour? Does it make it easier when you know that the friend was aware of the oath and its violation and chose to proceed anyway?

We live in a society of self service. It has become much easier to do what feels right instead of what IS right. And that sometimes puts those who are your friend in an awkward position. We don’t always get to chose how we deal with these situations. Always remember that you should respect your oaths and do what’s right.

Years ago, I was working in a small rural Saskatchewan town that had a quote by Suzy Kassem painted onto a mural in the local school. It read: Stand up for what’s right, even if you stand alone. Yet another quote that has always stuck with me. Sometimes, it’s hard for us to recognize what’s right. It becomes even harder for us to DO what’s right even when we do. But ultimately, what’s right exists despite our associations. And one should always do what’s right.