Living Life Poetically: Heart of Glass
When a glass item breaks, it’s very difficult to glue its pieces back together seamlessly. If you look close enough, you’d most likely be able to tell it had been broken. Sometimes a broken heart can feel the same way. The poem, Heart of Glass, is about that parallel. Heart of Glass The heart is like glass. You can see through but cannot pass. Once broken asunder,It cannot be as before pieced back together. Like lines and cracks on mended jars,It cannot be mended without visible wounds and scars. Written November 13, 2022
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Living Life Poetically: The Hope Factor
Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.
If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.
Living Life Poetically: The Storm Within
“The Storm Within” is a poem about having a storm that’s not outside in the elements but inside you. Sometimes life can feel like there’s a storm raging within. And the feeling and effects can be very similar to what occurs outside. The Storm Within It seems the storm has rerouted.Disappearing from the forecast,It now rages inside you,Devastating your inward land. Its dark clouds hide the stars in your eyes,As its heavy rain pours down your cheeks. From within, its violent winds uproot you from where you stood like an oak, securely planted,And topples your spirit to the ground. Its bold thunder shakes your confidence to the coreAs its icy…
“Let your past make you better, not bitter.”
Sometimes the would have, could have, and should haves of our past can seem like a constantly growing and endless list. And each regret or unfortunate event can make us feel bitter. But what if we take every past regret and bad incident and use them to fuel our drive to make things better? This anonymous quote is a great reminder to not get bogged down by our negative past but to use the wisdom we’ve gathered from it to inspire positive change.
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
Finding happiness doesn’t always come automatically. Some days are harder than others. Sometimes without any known reason. As this quote by Dalai Lama XIV reminds us, happiness is not “ready-made.” But even though it’s not ready-made, this quote also reminds us we do have some level of autonomy over it. There are actions you can take for your happiness. For instance, understanding yourself–Increasing the things that make you happy and avoiding the things that do the opposite. Ensuring you have the right support system around you. Surrounding yourself with positive things and people. Seeking counseling when needed. Finding peace through meditation and prayer. Taking better care of your body and…
“Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.”
When an artist paints a picture, they are constantly working through mistakes. They might realize a color is slightly off, a brush stroke is too thick or in the wrong direction, or an object in the painting isn’t where they want it to be. So they adjust things–and it’s all in their power to do so. In the same way, we are the artists of our own lives. As this quote by Guy Finley reminds us, we have the power to let go and start over. And no person or thing can stop us from turning a new page, mixing new colors, and adjusting as we go. Meanwhile, we can…
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”
This quote, from Paradise Lost by John Milton, gives us a different perspective of the mind–as its own place. We’re forced to think of our mind as a vast, infinite land that’s sort of under construction. And we have the ability to build whatever we want on it. For instance, we can develop it into a beautiful oasis or plant thorns. But in addition to the mind being its own place that we can develop, this quote also reminds us that it’s within our power and mind to either find or create the good in bad situations. It’s also within our power and mind to appreciate the good that’s already…
“Take time to recharge your batteries. It’s hard to see where you’re going when your lights are dim”
Imagine you’re trecking through a long, deep, and dark cave with only a flashlight to guide you through. The flashlight begins to grow dim from overuse. Suddenly, the way forward becomes more difficult, more strained, and nearly impossible. Without stopping to recharge or replace the batteries in your flashlight, you won’t see enough to know where you’re going. You might get lost, go backward, or get stuck. This quote, by Robert H. Connelly, reminds us that we need to recharge our batteries in life. We need to make sure we are getting sufficient rest. When our lights are dim, physically and mentally, we’re more prone to getting lost, going backward,…
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
Have you ever wished you could go back in time and start over on something? Maybe you want to start over on your entire life. The desire to go back in time to change something is not uncommon. You may have had a rough start in life or on a particular endeavor. However, this quote (perhaps by the author, James Sherman), reminds us that we don’t have to be limited by the past. What we know now and do now can change our future.
Living Life Poetically: It Takes Time
The poem, “It Takes Time,” is for those moments when our grief, pain, hopelessness, or efforts toward a certain goal seem to persist with no change or little progress. It Takes Time It may take timeTo heal all wound. It may take timeFor flowers to bloom. It’s tempting to assumeThat good things will always happen soon. But sometimes, it takes longer than we presume.And the longer it takes, the greater our gloom—The kind that can consume. So, in our hearts we must make room,And in our minds we must groom,To understand that— It may take time.
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“The holiest of holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; the anniversaries of the heart.”
“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow, so give it everything you’ve got.”
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.”
When pursuing a goal leads to fatigue or burnout, it’s tempting to give up on it all-together before it’s accomplished. It’s natural to want to quit when we’ve become fatigued. But this Bansky quote reminds us that there is another option at our disposal besides quitting. Sometimes all we need is a good rest–a bit of time to reboot, re-energize, and gain a fresh perspective. Rest is always another card in our deck that we can play before forfeiting the game.
