Life is Fine
Langston Hughes
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn’t,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn’t a-been so cold
I might’ve sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn’t a-been so high
I might’ve jumped and died.
But it was High up there! It was high!
So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry–
I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!
living
Death ~ Tagore
Say not in grief that she is no more
but say in thankfulness that she was
A death is not the extinguishing of a light,
but the putting out of the lamp
because the dawn has come.– R. Tagore
Being Loved ~ Meister Eckhart
Being Loved
Meister Eckhart
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved
Today’s Reflection ~ Advice for Living
Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer. ~ Black Elk
Today’s Reflection ~ Sense of Wonder
If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder. ~ Ray Bradbury
Today’s Reflection ~ Suffering
But all the good in a man, for which he is praised or loved, is merely good suffering, the right kind, the living kind of suffering, a suffering to the full. The ability to suffer well is more than half of life — indeed, it is all life. Birth is suffering, growth is suffering, the seed suffers the earth, the root suffers the rain, the bud suffers its flowering. ~ Herman Hesse
Today’s Reflection ~ Happiness
Happiness, for you we walk on a knife edge. To the eyes you are a flickering light, to the feet, thin ice that cracks; and so may no one touch you who loves you. Eugenio Montale
Life is for the Living ~ Langston Hughes
Life is for the living.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid.
– Langston Hughes
It Takes Courage ~ Anonymous
It Takes Courage
It takes strength to be firm, it takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer, it takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain, it takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in, it takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain, it takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse, it takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone, it takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love, it takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive, it takes courage to live.
by Anonymous
Today’s Reflection ~ Living
Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. ~ Mary Oliver