For
Kate
And
all the lovely people I talk with on Twitter.
I have a folder full of funny cuttings that
I sometimes turn to when things are not going well. It’s enormous – grown fat
and unruly over the years with newspaper cartoons that once caught my eye,
funny photos, magazine articles that made me laugh, old Beano comic strips and
ancient pieces from my dad’s 1970’s Punch. Nearly everything in it still cracks
me up.
Among the funnies there are a few bon mots
scattered about, little snippets of “chin-up” wisdom, a poem that my mum loved,
and today, I found this - “Desiderata”.
There was an achingly terrible, Gorgonzola-ripe sung version of this in the charts when I was growing up, so it didn't have a good start in life for me.
But I
had a copy in my folder because an old friend once asked me to write it out for her as a
piece of art, and I have grown to love these words. It’s not a funny – but it does have the same effect of helping me
raise my head a bit higher on a trying day and finding some perspective in the
scheme of things.
Translated,
the tile means: “Things wanted or needed”
I
think it could almost be the Carers’ Prayer.
Anyway,
it may be cheesy but reading it this morning made me feel better, so who can
argue with that?.
Here
it is:
“Desiderata”
Go placidly amid the
noise and 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 ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive
persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and 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.
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.
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.
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 with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be
happy.
