Making time for Desiderata

What a week!!  Any others out there who are emotionally and physically EXHAUSTED after a whirlwind week..... running around frantically... unsure about what destination you're chasing but just anxious about getting SOMEWHERE? 

In the midst of such chaotic and heavy times in life,... I love it when in a fleeting moment as you're going about your busy day.... something catches your eye, and you actually LOOK and STOP.  And really appreciate whatever THING it is that caught your eye, because you know without a shadow of a doubt you were MEANT to encounter it at that very moment in your life.

For me this week it was Desiderata......  A plaque displaying this gorgeous poem, peered down at me from the corner of my friend's kitchen cupboard.  I'd never noticed it before on any of my visits to see her until now.  She pulled the plaque down for me, dusted it off and I read it with her then and there.  I thought.... Thank YOU, thank you, THANK YOU.  And even more sweet was her insisting that I take the plaque home with me because she knew I needed it right now.

Then within days I'm back full speed again, going about my frantic days but this time travelling interestate.... and what do I see again sticky taped onto someone's bathroom wall?  Desiderata.

For all the other frantic freaks out there not living in the present moment ... STOP for Desiderata xoxoxo

DESIDERATA

Go Placidly amid the noise & haste & remember what peace there may be in silence.  As far as possible be on good terms with all persons.  Speak your truth quietly & clearly & listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.  Avoid loud & aggressive persons they are vexations to the spirit.  If you compare yourself with others you may become vain & bitter; For always there will be greater & 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 & 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 & disenchantment, it is 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 imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue & 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 & whatever your labours & aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.  With all its sham  & drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be careful.  Strive to be happy.

- Max Ehrmann (1927)