An Extraordinary Life

My life began in 1967.  Soon after I was born, my mother was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism.  My first words were, "Nam MyoHo RenGe Kyo" and I was raised learning about peace and culture and following the law of 'Cause and Effect.'  Growing up this way has afforded me a life filled with constant positivity and beauty. 

I first chanted to please my mother, but soon I began to wonder if this chanting was for real and if it really worked, so I decided to test it.  Each thing I chanted for materialized.  Every situation I wanted to change, changed.  Over and over, everything I chanted for happened, so my doubt soon became faith because I had actual proof.  Nothing beats actual proof! 

There’s really only 1 thing I’ve chanted for and did not get – to have children, as I cannot physically have children of my own.  I have thought about adopting through the years, but do not want babies of my own at my age, so I had given up the thought of this.  I knew that I was meant not to have children, so that I could mother the world, and this is what I have done my whole life…I nurture all those around me: my friends, co-workers, people I just met…heck, I mother my mother!

Here I am, almost 45 years later and my life has been extraordinary.  I have maintained a high life condition through tough times, never giving up on my dreams and as a result, all my dreams have come true.  I am living my dreams right now.

But it hasn't all been a walk in the park...I have had my share of sadness and have fought obstacles and struggled too...

After 19 years, I finally decided to leave my failing marriage.  I was so miserable in my marriage, but I had the Gohonzon and chanted day after day, year after year and finally the day came when I asked for a divorce.  I was told I could end up alone and miserable, but I did not give in to that negativity.  I chanted to be victorious in all aspects of my life and knew I needed to start a new journey that was healthy and happy.

Soon after my ex-husband and I separated, I met an amazing man that, from the beginning, took my breath away and keeps taking it away every day.  This man is everything I have ever wanted in a partner and more – the man of my dreams pales in comparison to the man of my reality. 

The problem was that he lives in Canada, but when we first met, I didn’t want a serious relationship at that point because I was headed for a divorce and needed to regain my life back again.  He also was not looking for a serious relationship, so we formed a great friendship right away.  But we could not get enough of each other and skyped nearly every night, day after day, week after week and it did not take long for us to fall in love.  Here we are 15 months later and we have decided we want to be together for the rest of our lives, so we started making plans to be together. 

We recently made the decision that I would move to Canada to be with him.  I was so happy and excited!  As I chanted each day about the things I needed to do in order to move to Canada, I got more and more excited!  Every morning, I would chant and go over the things I needed to do:

1. Make sure my mother found a great place to live
2. Sell all my furniture
3. Sell my car
4. Finish my apartment lease to August to avoid an early departure penalty

Not a long list, but these things had to happen and were standing in my way of moving, so I had to tackle them one by one.  A few days after this, my mother informed me that she found the perfect apartment and would be moving June 1st - I went with her to check the apartment out and she was so right - absolutely perfect!  One on the list down, 3 to go!

Last week, a great friend of mine texed me and asked the name of my apartments and what length the leases were for a friend of hers that wanted to move and that my location was perfect  She also mentioned that they had no furniture and may want to purchase some of my stuff.  So I told her the info she asked about and then also joked and said, "Or they could take over my lease in June and stay until at least the end of August."  My friend said she would let them know.  Long story short, the couple came over to view my apartment and furniture decided to take over my lease and purchase some of my furniture.

Next, I decided to put a message on Facebook regarding the sale of the rest of my furniture, as well as my car and have had a ton of responses and believe all of it will be sold within a couple of weeks.

Have I mentioned that my fiancé has 2 children?  Two teen-aged children, a boy and a girl who adore me as I adore them.  The boy is 16 and the girl is 18.  They were raised by and will be living with us when I get to Canada in 29 days.  Ahh, the thought of grandchildren in the future makes me smile…

What I am trying to say here is, everything I chant for, I get.  My dreams continue to manifest into reality.  I am so grateful for all the things in my life, but mostly, I have so much gratitude for my Buddhist practice and the extraordinary life it has afforded me.