Dad loved to do crazy things, like two-footed hops down the middle of main street Disneyland or teach strangers how to laugh or practice his Qi Gong breathing technique in a crowded elevator. He learned the principle of being right here, right now. I watched how he learned to be right here, right now in difficulty. It’s easy to be present when life is fun and full of enjoyment, but it is challenging to be fully present with suffering and pain.  

Dad became a master at navigating spiritual and emotional pain. Dad was a true teacher in these areas. He had tremendous grit and tenacity to find gratitude in cancer, in suffering, in death. He kept his joy till the last. This dedication came from saying thank you and choosing to be right here, right now, regardless of the situation. 

He would counsel me and those of you who are going through a very difficult time:

• Live in the present.
• Discipline your mind to think and speak gratitude.
• Stay out of fear.
• Do not be anxious about anything— Nothing to be anxious about!
• Remember, all shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.  
• Over focus on the past leads to depression.
• Over concern and desire to control/predict the future leads to anxiety. 
• When we are right here, right now, we can live life fully.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink,; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:25-27

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