As you know I have been regularly posting poetry I like. I have invited readers to send me poems that particularly inspire them. Here is one a reader sent to me, and yes those are the Blue Ridge Mountains taken from a deck in Roanoke, Virginia:
A Creed to Live By
Don’t undermine your worth
by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different
that each of us is special.Don’t set your goals by what
other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life,
for without them life is meaningless.Don’t let your life slip through your fingers
by living in the past or for the future,
By living your life one day at a time,
You will live all the days of your life.Don’t give up when you still have something to give
nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less then perfect.
It is a fragile thread that binds each of us to each other.Don’t be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love;
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.Don’t dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope;
to be without hope is to be without purpose.Don’t run through life so fast
that you forget not only where you have been
but also where you are going.
Life is not a race,
but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
— Nancye Sims
I especially like the idea about life being a journey to be savored each step along the way. I came home last night after spending several days in Toronto. On Tuesday night after I arrived, my friend took me to dinner at Giancarlo Trattoria, in Little Italy. I spent Wednesday and Thursday coaching a group of highly motivated lawyers. On Thursday morning I had breakfast with two lawyers I coached in 2005. Finally, after landing at DFW, I had a romantic dinner with Nancy. So, I loved the journey this week.