Showing posts with label interest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interest. Show all posts

Failed Dreams


My dreams are like a book, way up on the shelf.
Far to high above me, for me to reach myself.
So I form a ladder, each rung a minor goal.
And slowly I get closer, through every step and pull.


But my arms get heavy, and I'm struggling to climb.
The book I thought was easy, is taking too much time.
Maybe it's not worth it, it's taking far too long.
I don't think I can reach it, maybe I was wrong.



And then I see below it, a book almost the same.
A few different colors with a slightly different name.
It's just a little lower, but still up so very high,
This book and the other could be brothers in my eye.



So I resume my climbing, excited at the change,
This one's a bit closer, and easily in range.
But that's quickly fleeting, there's so much more to go,
With all the work I've done I have nothing yet to show.



As I catch my breath, my gaze drops a little more,
who cares if it is lower, I've done it once before.
There's a book a little closer, I go for that instead,
Until the books I'm seeking are right above my head.



I reach out and touch it, and feel a little proud.
Until I look and see, that I'm barely off the ground.
I'm left to sit and wonder, what changed within myself,
As I stare with longing, at the book up on the shelf.
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Author Notes

I feel like my goals were set so high when I was a kid and I've steadily lowered them over the years for instant gratification. Now I'm nowhere near where I thought I'd be at and I have no one to blame but my own laziness. Don't lower your expectations because you get frustrated with your progress or get depressed, always give it your all because it's no one else's future but your own.
© Derek. All rights reserved

The Invitation By Oriah Mountain Dreamer



It doesn't interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me
how old you are.
I want to know 
if you will risk 
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesnt interest me
what planets are 
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if have been opened
by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you 
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn't interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."


It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.


It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.


It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know 
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.


I want to know
if you can be alone 
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.