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Ricky Williams Commentary
Ricky is taking an 18 month program at The California College of Ayurveda. Ayurveda is known as a holistic health care system. But it is so much more than that. Ayurveda is the “science of life” and it teaches us about the world, and about
ourselves.
This is a good place for a guy like Ricky to be right now. He spent many years
working towards a life as a professional football player, and eventually found that
it was unfulfilling for him. He was wise enough to understand that the fame and
fortune were not making him happy, and for the most part that the responsibility that
camewith it was making him miserable. So, he quit. Unorthodox? Yes. Unpredictable? Yes. Foolish? Some people would say yes, but I say that he was
brave. It is courageous to go follow your heart, rather than societal expectations.
Sometimes it takes that leap of faith to venture out into the unknown. And the
unknown is full of potential.
What happens next is up to Ricky himself. Ayurveda will help him find his place in
the world, his “dharma” or “purpose” in life. Maybe it will be in the world
of holistic health care, and maybe it will have something to do with sports after
all.
Meanwhile, what is important now is the journey that Ricky has embarked upon. It’s
a journey of self-discovery, one that we all come to at some point in our lives.
Because his choice was so extreme, from life as a multi-million dollar football star,
to attending classes as just another student, his journey has gotten lots of
attention. But we all make choices everyday. These choices help to shape our lives, and lead us to where we’re going. At we making conscious choices? Are we
listening to the yearnings of our heart?
Ricky has been open about his use of marijuana. He doesn’t seem to have any plans to quit. But as he continues on his path with the study of Ayurveda, he will find
that he doesn’t need to smoke. Ricky will discover a strength within himself that
he will not want to dull with the use of drugs. Ricky shows many of the symptoms of
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. He is intelligent, and restless. He has 3
children from 3 different relationships. He is impulsive. He is gifted. I think marijuana is a means of self-medicating, so that he can mellow out. In Ayurveda,
AD/HD is basically a Vata imbalance. When Ricky learns other ways to balance his
Vata, he will be better able to take care of himself. Right now the marijuana is a
habit, or a crutch, but as he continues living an Ayurvedic lifestyle he’ll find he
doesn’t need any crutch. He’ll be healthy in mind, body, relationships, career
– in every aspect of his life.
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