Don't mean to be all touchy-feely, but this is my favorite and it always makes me feel better!

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 or 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's a real possession in the changng 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 perrenial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in suddden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue or loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and 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 in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Beautiful, simply beautiful. I however would change one statement within that statement. There is no striving, there is only doing or not doing. Therefore do not strive to be happy, just be happy.

i've often enjoy that writing...
yes i have read it before.
as a matter of fact, maybe now i can have people understand me a bit better...
i do whut i do.
and i'm good with it.
my life is lived to be at peace in death, or in dying.
"the only way that you can learn to die, is if you live."
[This message was edited Tue Sep 10 20:00:39 PDT 2002 by 00769BAD]

LittleRedCorvette said:

The way I interpret that statement is that sometimes in life, people avoid doing things that will create spiritual wellness/wholeness. Sometimes we have to put some thought into our actions in order to get the positive feelings...

I have never read that before but i like it.It is the way i TRY to live my life.

Very nice...

I guess I tend to believe that all actions, or nonactions (which in itself is an action), are a choice that we make, as is happiness. We can choose to be happy, or we can choose to not be. If we choose to be happy then other choices that we make will reflect that choice, and thereby we will create that sense of wellness/wholeness spiritually within ourselves out of our choice to be happy.

I guess to me I see "striving" as being something that is possibly beyond our reach. We strive to reach it and we will continue to strive to reach it. However if we just do it, if we choose to be happy, then there is no striving, only doing. Does that make sense? In some sort of strange way it makes sense to me anyway. lol

I can see your point however. Peace and love to you.

LittleRedCorvette said:

I definitely understand what you're saying. But on the other hand, I think this was written for we mere mortals who are imperfect and making mistakes constantly and not always understanding what it takes to be "happy". I also think telling a seriously depressed person with a chemical imbalance that they could just "choose" to be happy is also a big mistake But I hear what you're saying. But unless we are born knowing (and technically we could say we ARE born knowing, but the world makes us forget), then striving to discover what lies within each of us is lifelong. I don't associate the word 'striving' with anything negative, I guess.

I remember reading this when I was in college...it made so much sense to me and then I forgot about it. Thanks for posting it...it's a good reminder!

Thank you for posting that AnotherLover. It brought back memories. My English teacher back in high school gave us copies of it (I lost mine though ).