“After awhile you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn’t mean possession
and company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up
and your eyes ahead with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much
so you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn…”Veronica A. Shoffstall
Category: Inspirational Page 29 of 31
I will be in Europe for the next two weeks, starting next week. In view of the upcoming trip, the following seems a rather appropriate reminder:
“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”
Alan Cohen
On the quest for things dear to you, this is one piece of advice we can do well to remember:
“Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.”
Veronica A. Shoffstall
In this morning’s edition of a newsletter which I subscribe to, there is a story about a donkey which I found very interesting. It goes like this:
One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.
Today a short quote from a little book which was a gift before I headed for Singapore:
“What does it matter
If man reaches his goal –
And gains the whole world
But loses his soul,
For what have we won
If in gaining this end
We’ve been much too busy
To be kind to a friend?”Helen Steiner Rice