“Nature” is what we see—
The Hill—the Afternoon—
Squirrel—Eclipse— the Bumble bee—
Nay—Nature is Heaven—
Nature is what we hear—
The Bobolink—the Sea—
Thunder—the Cricket—
Nay—Nature is Harmony—
Nature is what we know—
Yet have no art to say—
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.
I ask no more of life than sunset’s gold;
A cottage hid in songbird’s neighborhood,
Where I may sing and do a little good,
For love and pleasant mem’ries when I’m old.
If life hath this in store for me—
A spot where coarse souls enter not,
Or strife—I’m sure there cannot be
On earth a fairer heaven sought.
Don’t sell yourself short. There’s more good in you, than you realize. Everyone has the capacity for good. Some people do an extraordinary amount of good. They are the saints among us. There are some who bury their good seed so deep they don’t know it exists. They are those who do evil among us. The majority of us are somewhere on a line between the two extremes. The great news is that we can choose which direction we want to walk toward. The more good we do with the ability we have the more we contribute to a better world. Good will triumph over evil if we do our part and continue to walk toward the good.
Wake up. Day calls you
to your life: your duty.
And to live, nothing more.
Root it out of the glum
night and the darkness
that covered your body
for which light waited
on tiptoe in the dawn.
Stand up, affirm the straight
simple will to be
a pure slender virgin.
Test your bodys metal.
cold, heat? Your blood
will tell against the snow,
or behind the window.
The colour
in your cheeks will tell.
And look at people. Rest
doing no more than adding
your perfection to another
day. Your task
is to carry your life high,
and play with it, hurl it
like a voice to the clouds
so it may retrieve the light
already gone from us.
That is your fate: to live
Do nothing.
Your work is you, nothing more.
I meet lots of folks who exist day to day. I used the word “exist” and not the word “live” because that’s what they’re doing. Their lives evolve into a monotonous routine. Those who live experience the moment and what the moment brings whether it’s joyful, sorrowful, or an opportunity to express heart-filled gratitude. Fully experiencing the moment helps them to more fully grasp what it means to be human. They will dance at wedding, cry at funerals, and creatively explore how to build and heal relationships. It’s never too late to start living.
“The measure of love is to love without measure.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo
Create a morning ritual to start the day calmly.
What is your morning ritual? Do you have a ritual that will get you centered and focused on the day ahead? I’ve developed a routine that works for me. When I wake up I begin by thanking God for a new day, the gift of health, the gifts of my daughters, neighbors, and friends. I then pray traditional prayers that have been part of my life since childhood. I pray for my daughters, those I’ll meet today, for my country and church, for peace, and for the souls of my wife, parents, and those who have touched my life. I get out of bed announcing, “I’m going to have a great day.” I do a series of yoga stretches, the plank, and pushups. I turn the coffee on so it will be ready when I finishes showering and dressing. I drink a warm tall glass of lemon water and it’s off to the shower. By the time I am sitting down with my coffee, oatmeal, and blueberries, I am fired up and ready to take on the day. Impossible to miss having a great day.
here’s to opening and upward, to leaf and to sap
and to your(in my arms flowering so new)
self whose eyes smell of the sound of rain
and here’s to silent certainly mountains;and to
a disappearing poet of always,snow
and to morning;and to morning’s beautiful friend
twilight(and a first dream called ocean)and
let must or if be damned with whomever’s afraid
down with ought with because with every brain
which thinks it thinks,nor dares to feel(but up
with joy;and up with laughing and drunkenness)
here’s to one undiscoverable guess
of whose mad skill each world of blood is made
(whose fatal songs are moving in the moon
I enjoy life. I enjoy being with people. I enjoy being alone. I enjoy going for a walk in nature. I enjoy being on busy city streets. I enjoy music playing. I enjoy silence. I don’t know how I came about this way of being. It’s nothing I studied. My parents weren’t this way. It just happened. I don’t think I was always this way. It happened. I’m always looking for something good to happen to me. It usually does but not always in the way I want it or in my timeframe. I think it’s important to look at life with happy eyes and a smile and arms wide open to catch the good things life is tossing at you,
Now you can go to sleep safely,
Now all the heavens are open:
Soul, whose longing oak dark walls
In star to star burns transparently,
And in the beauty of this temporary land
Your eternal fate must already be loved,
As your delight looks to
The throne of God.
