Author Unknown
"If you can't find what you want
in your struggle for self
and you think life is worthless
go to a mirror and look at yourself
and see what the man has to say.
For it isn't your father, or mother,
or wife, who's judgement upon you must pass
The person who's verdict that counts most in life
is the one staring back from the glass.
He's the person who counts
never mind all the rest
For he's with you clear up to the end
and you'll have passed your most dangerous difficult test
if the man in the glass is your friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of life
and get pats on your back as you pass
but your final reward will be heartache and tears
if you've cheated the man in the glass.
" You're only as free as you make yourself
your ties are only your own
You can draw your own string
or else leave it loose
it's your choice and yours alone.
You can pick up your pack
and carry it well
or sit and complain of the load
You can make times hard or take life with style
but you must travel your self made road
Life can be hard
there are ups and downs, sure
but there doesn't always have to be
because you make your own pains
and bring your own smiles
i'ts only you who can set yourself free."
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 center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled 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's 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 on 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 center 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.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
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