Words of Advice for Us All

First, let me say thanks for all the kind words and support for my recent post. I hope I can keep you interested and tuned in. Let me know when it's good....and when it sucks.

A few days ago I found a card a friend sent me in recent years. At that time, he told me he had this poem posted in his office and when he had ‘one of those days’, he would take time to read through it again and each time it seemed to give him a better perspective of what was important and what to do next. He thought he would share a copy with me.

I have to admit when I initially read it I just said, ‘hmmm’ and then sat it aside. I wasn’t ready for it at the time I guess. I mean it had big words in it like ‘placidly’ and ‘vexatious’ and ‘aridity’ and ‘perennial’ and ‘Desiderata’. I don’t use those words on a day-to-day basis and they scared me. (BTW: placidly means not easily upset; vexatious means causing annoyance; aridity means lacking interest; perennial means present at all seasons of the year; desiderata is Latin meaning things desired)
 
Anyway, when I found the card this time and read it again, it had a different connection for me. Maybe it’s because of all the things that have happened in the last 9 months, it just clicked this time.
 
I did a little research, (like finding definitions to those scary words) and read that the author was a writer, poet and attorney from Terre Haute, Indiana, by the name of Max Ehrmann who wrote this nearly 100 years ago, in 1927. 
 
I encourage you to find a quiet place, turn down all the surrounding noise, and take a few minutes to read his prose poem and hear what it says to you. I know it’s long, and has those big scary words, but listen to them, all of them.
 
I hope you find some meaning for you.
 

DESIDERATA

By Max Ehrmann

 
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
 
Be talking to you.
 
Dan