FRIED CHICKEN

Even though it is a brutal and painful way to learn, going to funerals has been especially enlightening to me in the last few years. There is something about the finality of life that offers up some real wisdom about living life. This past week was no different.

A good friend and fellow warrior, David Taylor, lost his wife this past week to pancreatic cancer. Her name is Marilyn Westheimer and although I never met her, I felt I had a real grasp on who she was and why she was here by the time the funeral ended. I had the opportunity to share time with David when we staffed earlier this year on a Warrior Training Weekend and he was so beautifully open about Marilyn, himself and the journey he was going through of being with his wife over this past year as she was dying. That was such a gift to me to just witness his love, not only for her, but for him and their family. He really opened up my perspectives once again.

The gift I got from this funeral was that life is truly what I make of it. There are no winners or loosers, I am just here to do what I need to do on my spiritual path. I got once more, it’s not about what I achieve, it’s about how I achieve it and how I choose to show up every day. If I sit in meditation for hours with love in my heart and feeling compassion, why is that less or more that going out and “doing” something? I think it’s all in our intention and the energy we put out. If that was the case for Marilyn, she was a queen because she had 4 of her best friends all share their love for her at the funeral in a way where I was so touched because I felt the depth of their love coming right from their hearts. It spoke volumes for all of them.

The best line of the whole funeral and my take away gift was a quote that Marilyn had shared in her last days. When she realized that the end was near she said “ If I would have know that it would end this way, I would have eaten more fried chicken.” …….. wow…..made me really think what my “fried chicken” is……thanks Marilyn for the reminder of what life is REALLY about……KFC here I come.