In 1986, a friend of mine attended a month long workshop led by Virginia Satir, a pioneer in the field of family therapy. My friend was not a therapist, he went to the workshop solely to work on his own personal issues. At that point in time, I was deep into my own personal therapy and was thinking about becoming a psychotherapist myself.
As I heard him talk about being with Satir, I felt jealous. I wanted that experience for myself! I would do it too……yes I would……but not now. After all, I was raising two children, I was working, I was doing my own personal therapy, and I was in school studying for a PhD. In other words, I had responsibilities. I was too busy now, but later, I would attend her workshop. That opportunity was important, and I was going to take advantage of it.
Then the unthinkable happened. On September 10, 1988, she died. As strange as it may seem, I never had considered the possibility that she might die. I had wanted to do something and I was going to do it. I felt shocked and sad. My opportunity was gone, gone forever. There was nothing I could do to have that experience.
Nine months later I met Amma. Through her, I reconnected with my spiritual self and I experienced joy at a level I never thought possible. I knew I wanted to spend as much time with Amma as I could and after my recent experience with Virginia Satir, there was NO way I was going wait until LATER. Six weeks from the time I met Amma, I was at her retreat in New Hampshire and six months from that, I was in India. I have participated in her U.S programs every year since then, and have made 25 trips to her ashram in India besides.
I fully believe I had the experience with Virginia Satir so that I could learn an important lesson. It is one I have kept in mind ever since.
Never put off something important until tomorrow. There may not be a tomorrow.
Written for Writing 101 Assignment #15: Think about an event you’ve attended and loved. Imagine you’re told it will be cancelled forever. How does that make you feel?
Living, Learning and Letting Go 
I totally understand this. Of all my first husband’s relatives, I liked his grandmother the most. We lived about a two hour drive from her in Florida and one weekend I told her that we would visit her “soon”. I mean I was twenty-one, had three children under three, and my husband was out to sea… two hours was a long trip. She died two days later. It was about then I knew that there was no such thing as “soon” or “later”, and the beginning of my trip to living in the Now.
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Thanks so much for sharing your story. I like that you relate it to living in the now.
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Karuna, I’m reminded in your post of something that was said in Conversations with God. Only through experiencing the opposite of something can we truly know the thing when we encounter it. I can tell that your story fits that model. I believe that much of what has come before in my life is for this purpose as I go forward now.
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I like that way of thinking about it. Thanks!
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Well said,Karuna!
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Thanks so much!
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Thank you for the reminder, Karuna.
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You are very welcome!
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