wednesday

How To Make A Beautiful Life.

Love yourself.
Make peace with who you are and where you are at this moment in time.

Listen to your heart.
If you can't hear what it's saying in this noisy world, MAKE TIME for yourself.
Enjoy your own company.
Let your mind wander among the stars.

Try. Take chances.
Make mistakes. Life can be messy and confusing at times, but it's also full of surprises.
The next rock in your path might be a stepping-stone.

Be happy.
When you don't have what you want, want what you have.
MAKE DO.
That's a well kept secret of contentment.

There aren't any shortcuts to tomorrow.
You have to make your own way.
To know where you're going is only part of it.
You need to know where you've been, too. And if you ever get lost, don't worry.
The people you love will find you.
Count on it.

Life isn't days and years. It's about what you do with time.
And all the goodness and grace that's inside you.

Make a beautiful life....
The kind of life you deserve.

This poem was on the card my father gave me for my nineteenth birthday. I found it to be incredibly beautiful and it really resonated with me at the time. I was in college, and feeling pretty out of touch with myself. I don't always save cards, but I did save this one. I tucked it away in a box somewhere and eventually forgot about it. A few years later when I was 22, I took a restorative yoga workshop with Arlene Bjork at Grace Yoga in Richmond. It was a blissful two hour practice. At the end of class, Arlene read this poem. Again, I loved it so much, but (silly me) I didn't recognize it. I asked her after class where it came from, and she told me that it came from a birthday card she'd bought for her daughter. I didn't remember that I, too, had received this lovely birthday card until months later when I was sorting through my things just before my big cross-country move. I opened a box and there it was- complete with a hand written note from my dad. It now hangs on my bedroom wall right next to my bed. 

This poem found its way into my life two different times when I seemed to need it most. Are there any quotes, words, poems or stories that really resonate with you? If you're interested in sharing, I would love to hear them!