Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affections of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have loved; This is to have succeeded. |
The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, And if you dare 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 dreams, 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 ectasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being a human. It doesn't interest me to know if the story you're 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. I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you source your life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!" I 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. I 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 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. |
