Welcome to Your Life!

Last Thursday my mom had her second knee replacement in three months. At 72, her joints had failed her to the point that she was just about considered disabled. Her first knee replacement in January had gone so well that she pushed up the date for her second one by six months.

So on Thursday, only a few hours after my mom’s surgery, my 15-year old daughter called her to see how she was feeling. In her usual infectiously enthusiastic manner, my daughter blurted out, “Grandma, welcome to your life!”

Her words took my breath away. They were perfectly timed, perfectly delivered and incredibly empowering. Here was a 15 year-old, reminding a senior that at any moment we have the opportunity to start anew. “Grandma”, she said, “now you have two new knees and now you will be able to do all those things that you couldn’t do before”.

What an invitation. Welcome to your life.

The Buddhists teach us about the “fresh start”, and that at any moment we can choose to begin again. They teach us that with each breath we have an opportunity to start over. Our yoga practice teaches us that each pose can be compared to a little life and when the pose is over we begin again we new focus and new breath. The final and arguably most important pose of our yoga practice, savasana or final rest, reminds us to “die” to who we were when we started our practice and to begin anew. We rise from our mats, fully renewed and refreshed and as some will say with new eyes and a fresh start.

So I invite you all to do as I have done in the past few days. That is to adopt my daughter’s words as my new daily mantra. Chant them when you arise in the morning. Remind yourself of them when you transition from home to work. Go to sleep with them as a reminder of how blessed you were to have experienced another day.

Whether you have new knees or just a new outlook, welcome to your life.