My Soul Has a Hat

I counted my years and realized that I have less time to live by, than I have lived so far. I feel like a child who won a pack of candies: at first he ate them with pleasure but when he realized that there was little left, he began to taste them intensely. 

I have no time for endless meetings where the statutes, rules, procedures and internal regulations are discussed, knowing that nothing will be done.

I no longer have the patience to stand absurd people who, despite their chronological age, have not grown up. My time is too short: I want the essence; my spirit is in a hurry. I do not have much candy in the package anymore.

I want to live next to humans, very realistic people who know how to laugh at their mistakes and who are not inflated by their own triumphs and who take responsibility for their actions. In this way, human dignity is defended and we live in truth and honesty. It is the essentials that make life useful.

I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch the hearts of those whom hard strokes of life have learned to grow with sweet touches of the soul.

Yes, I'm in a hurry. I'm in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give. I do not intend to waste any of the remaining desserts. I am sure they will be exquisite, much more than those eaten so far.

My goal is to reach the end satisfied and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience. We have two lives and the second begins when you realize you only have one.

~ Mario de Andrade ~  

(Poet, novelist, essayist and musicologist, one of the founders of Brazilian modernism)

Sip Your Coffee

Sip your Coffee

Nice and Slow,
No one ever knows 

when it’s time to go,

There’ll be no time 

to enjoy the glow,

So sip your Coffee

Nice and Slow.

Life is too short but 
feels pretty long,
There’s too much to do, so much going wrong, 
And most of the time you struggle to be strong,
Before it’s too late 
and it’s time to go,
Sip your Coffee
Nice and Slow.

Some friends stay, 
others go away,
Loved ones are cherished, but not all will stay,
Kids will grow up 
and fly away,
There’s really no saying how things will go,
So sip your coffee
Nice and Slow.

A poem by Lee Tzu Pheng
(Cultural Medallion winner, Singapore)

The Love for a Mother

"When your mother has grown older and you have grown older,

When what was formerly easy and effortless becomes a burden,

When her dear loyal eyes do not look out into life as before,

When her legs have grown tired and do not want to carry her any more,

Then give her your arm for support, accompany her with gladness and joy,

The hour will come, weeping, when you accompany her on her last journey;

And if she asks you always answer her, and if she asks again speak also,

And if she asks another time speak to her not stormily but in gentle peace,

And if she cannot understand you well, explain everything joyfully,

Because the hour will come, the bitter hour, when her mouth will ask no more."

That's a poem translated from German written by a very well known German called Adolf Hitler in 1923.  Few of us know he was a poet and that he loved his mother very dearly.  His poem moved me very much and I could not help shed a few tears ... how about you, did it move you?

Anger

Dear God

Today I failed Your test again.

I spoke angry words, I hurt someone's feelings.

In frustration, I escaped to my garden

and sat beneath a tree.

"Oh, tree," I whispered. "Do you ever get angry?"

I heard a rustle of leaves above me.

I saw a butterfly flit across the sky.

"Oh, butterfly," I whispered. "Do you ever get angry?"

It flew towards me and brushed its wings against my cheek.

If only they could both speak to me!

Oh Lord, will You teach me how to conquer

this loathsome enemy called Anger?

~ The Rambling Nonya ~

Bitterness and Love

Bitterness imprisons life, love releases it;

Bitterness paralyses life, love empowers it;

Bitterness sours life, love sweetens it;

Bitterness sickens life, love heals it;

Bitterness blinds life, love anoints its eyes.

~ Harry Emerson Fosdick ~

Climb Till Your Dream Comes True

Often your tasks will be many and more than you think you can do… often the road will be rugged and the hills insurmountable, too…

But always remember, the hills ahead are never as steep as they seem, and with Faith in your heart, start upward and climb till you reach your dream, for nothing in life that is worthy Is ever too hard to achieve If you have the courage to try it and you have the Faith to believe.

For Faith is a force that is greater than knowledge or power or skill and many defeats turn to triumph If you trust in God’s wisdom and will…

For Faith is a mover of mountains, there’s nothing that God cannot do, so start out today with Faith in your heart and Climb Till Your Dream Comes True !

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

Look Well To This Day

I came across this inspirational poem in the net recently. I like in particular the last verse - a lot of truth and wisdom there!

Look well to this day,

For it and it alone is life.

In its brief course

Lies all the essence of your existence:

The Glory of Growth

The Satisfaction of Achievement

The Splendor of Beauty

For yesterday is but a dream,

And tomorrow is but a vision.

But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

(Anonymous, 50 B.C.)

Cherish

Cherish things while you still have them,

Before they are gone and you realise

How precious they really were.

Life can only be understood backwards,

But it must be lived forwards.

Everything in life is temporary.

So if things are going well,

Enjoy them because they will not last forever.

However if they are going badly,

Don’t worry either because they too will not last forever.

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;

It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

If you could not add years to your life,

You can at least add life to your years!

~ Author Unknown ~