Life’s Journey – Page 36 – Inspiration for the Mind, Body & Soul

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking

By Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

I believe firmly that life isn’t about what you get, rather life is about what you give. As you go through life, don’t forget to be compassionate and generous. If you can brighten and help better another person’s life, then do it. Your life will have so much more meaning and fulfillment when you share love and kindness with others.

Count Your Blessings

~ Author Unknown

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;
Love your neighbor as much as yourself.

This poem is a great reminder to focus on seeing the glass as being half full instead of half empty. It is so easy to focus on the negative and all the bad things that happen every single day. But, it takes a courageous soul to instead see the good in every situation you encounter in life. Always remember that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

I Believe

I Believe . . .

By: John McLeod

I believe that
nothing in life is unimportant
Every moment
can be a beginning
And a time for decision,
Taken against the constant
background of one’s faith
Each word and gesture –
whether it comes from our
Strength or our weakness
May change the subsequent course
of our life
And the lives of those around us.

Every moment of everyday is important. There is no moment of life that can be categorized as insignificant. The most “insignificant” choice can open the door to new opportunities. So, you should strive to treat each day and every moment as a chance for new beginnings full of infinite possibilities.

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

When the cards are stacked against you, will you choose to “show up”? No one person was meant to live a small, bleak life. Every single person is capable of great things and should settle for no less. Whether it be rain or sunshine, you should strive to always “show up” for every moment of your life. You get but one chance at life, so make it count!

Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

This poem speaks to empowerment, courage and an unwavering conviction to never give up. When the world knocks you on your ass, you need to search within yourself and find the strength to rise again. No matter what adversity or uphill battle you face, you must carry within you a fire that cannot be extinguished and the courage to carry on when all else falls away.

Hope

A Poem of Hope

By: Catherine Pulsifer

When life is getting you down,
And you need a little hope.
Look deep down inside yourself,
And you’ll find the way to cope.

When life is getting you down,
And you need a little love.
Go to the person whom you are the closest,
As the rest they are above.

When life is getting you down,
And all you need is a laugh.
Find the friend that makes you smile,
They may even be your staff.

When life is getting you down,
Don’t allow it so.
Change the way you think of life,
And life will be better, you know.

When life is getting you down,
Take time to pray
Don’t allow yourself to frown
God will help you see the blessings of the day.

Sometimes life gets you down. Things don’t work out the way you planned − be it a job, relationship or some other aspect of life. It is at these times that you have to dig deep within yourself and find the strength to have faith and hope that things will get better. Don’t let life’s many upsets change you and your outlook on life.

Imaginary Conversation

Linda Pastan

You tell me to live each day
as if it were my last. This is in the kitchen
where before coffee I complain
of the day ahead—that obstacle race
of minutes and hours,
grocery stores and doctors.

But why the last? I ask. Why not
live each day as if it were the first—
all raw astonishment, Eve rubbing
her eyes awake that first morning,
the sun coming up
like an ingénue in the east?

You grind the coffee
with the small roar of a mind
trying to clear itself. I set
the table, glance out the window
where dew has baptized every
living surface.

Maybe we have been going about this all wrong. I mean, I’m guilty of trying to adhere to the old adage of “Live life to the fullest and live each day as if it were your last.” But, why not choose to live each day as if it were your first day on this Earth? To be enchanted by the Sun lighting up the sky or the wonder of waking up to a winter’s first snow blanketing the ground and everything surrounding it. Maybe we should embrace each day and all of life’s miracles with raw astonishment. . .to approach each day as if you’ve never experienced it before.

Dare to Dream

Dreams

~ Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Dream. Imagine. Believe. In childhood, our minds are these creative little sponges that believe in infinite possibilities. But as we grow up and traverse adulthood, we bury that part of ourselves deep underneath the realities of the world – such as paying bills and navigating relationships. We forget how to dream, imagine and believe in a better tomorrow. But, what is life without daring to hope, dream and believe in the impossible? It is a barren existence. So, ask yourself, what are your hopes and dreams for tomorrow?

My Creed

Edgar Albert Guest

To live as gently as I can;
To be, no matter where, a man;
To take what comes of good or ill
And cling to faith and honor still;
To do my best, and let that stand
The record of my brain and hand;
And then, should failure come to me,
Still work and hope for victory.

To have no secret place wherein
I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
To be the same when I’m alone
As when my every deed is known;
To live undaunted, unafraid
Of any step that I have made;
To be without pretense or sham
Exactly what men think I am.

To leave some simple mark behind
To keep my having lived in mind;
If enmity to aught I show,
To be an honest, generous foe,
To play my little part, nor whine
That greater honors are not mine.
This, I believe, is all I need
For my philosophy and creed.

You should always strive to lead a life of integrity. No matter what you are going through in life, always try to rise above the pettiness and negativity of others. Be honest, compassionate, humble and most importantly be your authentic, genuine self. Never forget, you dictate the standards you wish to lead your life by . . .

The Man Who Thinks He Can

~ Walter D. Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outcasted, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Where there is a will, there is a way. When you have faith in yourself, you will succeed in reaching your goals. It may not happen overnight and there may be a hundred no’s along the way. But when you believe that no mountain is insurmountable, you will succeed in making your dreams a reality no matter what curveballs life may throw your way.