DESIDERATA for 2009 – let’s do it better !
Happy New Year! Wish you all a great 2009, filled with all the things you need and hope for!
I know it’s a bit late, but, hey, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to take a little vacation, in order to spend a bit more time with the loved ones.*
*this post was supposed to hit the net sometime around the third of the month, unfortunately I had a huge car crash and was hospitalized for a week – I’m fine, just a healing skull fracture.
But now I’m back and itching to post more.
I want to start this year with a positive article, so here goes nothing…
I recently read Az’s “Godmachine” Xmas speech, which I wholeheartedly recommend and I consider to be one of the best things you could read today. And this way I found out about Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata, a poem that I want to share with those of you who haven’t read it already:
DESIDERATA
Go placidly amid the noise and the 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 the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious 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 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.
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.
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.
I initially wanted to comment upon this poem and analyze it…but it’s so straightforward that I think it needs no further explanation, just a good reading.
My favorite part is “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” And it’s something to think about when you work in a highly competitive industry as the design one is…actually, to me this is one of those things they should teach you in school 🙂
Let me know what your favorite part is!
All the best!
