Facing Life After the Stroke
After I had my stroke in May 2025, I kept asking myself one question: How can you live a spiritual life when your body and mind no longer work the way they used to? My faculties were compromised. I didn’t know where I was half the time, I couldn’t work like before, and I couldn’t sleep.
As I reflected on this, another problem appeared—frequent nighttime urination. At seventy-six, getting up many times a night makes it hard to go back to sleep. I thought about seeing doctors again, but they had missed my first stroke. Eventually, Kaiser confirmed the diagnosis, but by then, I had lost some trust in the medical system.
The Emotional and Physical Struggles
Life changes. This new reality made me anxious, and my blood pressure skyrocketed. I ended up in the emergency room several times, convinced I might die. Something felt terribly wrong. So I decided to take a six-week trip to one of our favorite places—Hanalei, Kauai—to see if the island’s peace could help heal me.
The trip itself was difficult. Friends had to drive us because I couldn’t. My condition was putting stress on my spouse, too. I’d already seen dozens of doctors, but most wanted to prescribe more drugs—addictive ones, in many cases. That wasn’t the path I wanted.
Letting Go of Medication and the Old Way of Life
So I took a leap. I stopped the five medications that were wreaking havoc on my body. I retired from my job at a large CPA firm. Then I began lifting weights and watching videos about aging on YouTube. I tried dozens of techniques that people recommended—none of them worked.
I had once written that the average American over sixty-five takes more than fifteen pills a day. I didn’t want to be one of them, though doctors seemed determined to get me there. It was ironic: a writer on spiritual topics, suffering deeply, struggling to live what I had preached. Something was out of alignment.
Searching for Balance in Kauai
Just getting to Kauai was one thing; climbing the stairs to the kitchen each day was another. I was doing the equivalent of 500 steps daily. Meanwhile, I was up ten times a night to urinate, unable to sleep, and constantly worried about my blood pressure. I visited the ER and Urgent Care in Kauai—more pills, some addictive, some not. None of it felt right.
Finally, I decided something had to change. I stopped drinking liquids after 2 p.m. and found a natural supplement on Amazon called Procaster. Out of the many remedies I tried, that one helped a bit—it reduced my nightly trips to the bathroom. I learned that with age, the bladder can shrink from holding about 500 mL to just 150 mL, which explains the frequent urination.
Shifting Toward Gentle Healing
I tried building strength with weights, thinking that would help. It didn’t. So I switched to gentler exercise—walking Hanalei Bay morning and evening. That helped more than anything else. The fatigue forced me to sleep better.
Nourishing the Body and Spirit
Nutrition came next. Many online experts said to eat within 30 minutes of waking and drink water with lemon. I tried it—it felt good. To calm my racing heart, I practiced slowing my thoughts and reducing worry. Meditation helped, and over time, my breathing changed.
I started taking ginseng, marine phytoplankton, magnesium, and ashwagandha. Gradually, I began to feel sane again. I even started writing more books—you can find seven of them on this website. On one side of my life were fifteen prescription pills; on the other, my efforts to heal naturally and spiritually.
Redefining Spirituality Through Simplicity
I gave up sugar and processed snacks. I returned to protein—chicken and steak—even though I had been vegan. My new definition of spirituality became simple: to live in the flow of energy that is embedded in nature. When you align with that flow, you feel good. That, to me, is the Tao—the harmony of Love, Light, Life, and Living.
Love is the divine energy within nature.
Light is knowledge—understanding your problems.
Life is the act of putting it all together and living with purpose.
Finding Peace Again
Today, I can sleep about six hours before needing to use the bathroom. My heart rate and blood pressure are down—yesterday it was 131/74. I walk the beach twice a day.
All I want to share is this: doctors can be helpful, but healing often requires more than medicine. It requires a spiritual alignment with the energy of life itself.
