Privileged
Recently I had the luck of being able to read about the life of Master Margie Hilbig. Before reading her book, all I really knew about her was she was Canada's first female black belt and she was a part of our lineage at Silent River. But she was sooooo much more. From her nightmarish childhood in Nazi Germany, to being an orphan after the war, to her travels across Europe as a teen, her immigration to Canada in the early 1960s, her founding of her schools in Calgary then Edmonton, her marriages and heartbreaks, her battle with cancer, she was an amazing human being. Her pioneering spirit is deeply inspirational, her heart, her compassion, her drive, her willingness to be exactly what she wanted to be, wow! I truly wish I could have met her and possibly trained under her. I can see why Master Brinker talks so fondly and highly of her.
This brings me to my here and now. You never really truly know who the next "Margie" will be. She was a force of humanity that is unmatched but....is there someone in your life right now like her and you just don't realize it? Can you ( or me ) see what or who is probably right in front of us? Can you or I be the next Margie? I know, pretty deep questions but worth thinking about. All I am asking is to look at the people in your life, friends, family, teachers, yourself, are they someone that drives you towards greatness? How can you make an everlasting mark for the good of humanity on history if you are not constantly being all you can be? Find those people in your life that inspire you and cherish them, learn from them, remember them, for they may only be in your life for a limited time.
To me, one of those people was my Dad, Robert Doran Bjorkquist. I miss him terribly, he passed away Mar 12, 2019, and I look back constantly and think of all the times I wasted not asking his advice, not sitting down and chatting, not hitting the golf course with him. I am now and forever holding myself to his standard, he was one of those people in my life that fits into the "Margie" category for me. Miss you Dad.
As for the now, there are several people that inspire me, that drive me, that make me want to succeed. I won't embarrass them by naming them here but I will let them know in my own special way, thank you for being a "Margie" in my life.
Don Bjorkqist
