My Friend

Lee JungSeop and JiYeon

I have been moved to tears a few times over the past few days. Life is such a wonderful journey. But sometimes there is static. Pride and humility are such a scrappy duo. Sometimes Mr. P can really keep us from reaping the most of the air we breath, the paths we walk, and the experiences we face. Our inner voice will say, "Oh no, I'm okay. I wouldn't want to be a bother", while Mr. P is saying, "You can handle this on your own.  You do not need help." I see Pride dominating my choices and my actions.
And then I walk into a land where the alphabet on signs is not familiar, the language is foreign, and still, I am determined to wade through.

But it was not to be.  I have a friend.  A determined friend.  A particularly beautiful, smart and loving friend.  And she has pushed through and awakened the quiet and stand-offish child H, in me.  Exhibiting Humility is required when one reliquishes Pride.  Then gratitude spills forth leaving a golden walkway of light and love.

It isn't just the Yoga.  JiYeon and I both love to practice yoga and she has helped me to find three lovely and varied practices since I arrived in Korea, one in Seoul at Yoga en Leibe, her home studio, and two on Jeju, Yoga Borom, at Andeok-myeon and 30Yoga in down-town Jeju City.  All three practices left me bursting with, what I belive to be humility!  I could not have done this without my friend. The joy of meeting these other wonderful yogis and seeing how graciously they welcomed me, a funny-looking Canadian elder from the prairies, and truly I felt crushed with love.

It is true friendship to surrender and let a friend care about you. I see where in my world, Pride has been a brush-off master. Cold. Even arrogant. But Humility is a shy little critter. I did not know her power.  Ultimately I feel stronger for having relinquished the force.  The wall has been shattered.

Together, JiYeon and I scrambled across the Seoul she knows so well.  Time was short and she made sure I would see plenty.  She enlisted the support of her friends and family, and I was swept away.  Then here, on Jeju, she came and spent time with me and again, pulled me from one interesting  moment to another dilectable landmark and across busy and remote landscapes.  Where to next? This is her homeland.  She knows her way and she gave me everything.  Why do I weep with Humility and Gratitude?  It is the purity of love and friendship.  Never ever ever take it for granted.  It is a beautiful human trait.
Thank you JiYeon. And Brian, thank you for finding an impossible piece of time to meet me in Gangnam.
And DaeHyun, my day in GyeongJu City was far beyond what I could ever have imagined. These three are my longest standing students and stand among my closest friends.

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