PEACE

THE FINAL FRONTIER

My Tai Chi beginners' class is at the halfway point. We had gone through the reverse breathing, meditation, holding the ball, and bend over stretches and I thought that my left and right sides were working pretty well together. Then, last week, we got into the steps. One foot off the floor with a slow straight leg stretched out in front. Then a curl of the outstretched leg back to the knee and then straight out again with the heel coming back down to earth in a specific position. Another bend over stretch, step weight shift and the whole procedure starts over again with the other leg. Here is where I discovered that I'm pretty wobbly. I find myself teetering back and forth like a dangling traffic signal dancing in the wind. Ever since my diagnosis I had been trying to gauge my position on the Disability scale by standing on one leg to put on each of my socks. Some days were better than others, but I always managed to feel quite good about the results. Doing the leg stretch/kick walk in the Tai Chi exercises, I was feeling like I was walking on a sail boat or atop the CN Tower, where mother earth seems to be in a different position with each foot fall. Still, I feel great about what I am doing and what it's going to do for me. I think of it as a great way to turn the page over into the New Year.

As my left and right sides come together slowly, may all human beings realize that they are not so very different after all and come together in a fashion. Some differences are the bane of life. Like poison to our souls. Some differences are the spice of life. Like jubilation to our spirits. I feel such joy that I guess my hope is that so will everyone else. I know I am a dreamer, but

Happy New Year, one and all!