Go placidly amid the noise and haste...

2007 - it's a new year and with anything new they take a bit of breaking in. I think everyone always has great intentions for the new year - we call them resolutions, and are often screamed out on New Years eve, as regrets from the previous year. They usually involve losing, gaining, doing something less, doing something more, quitting something or starting something. They are almost always something that we've discovered about ourselves that we want to be different come New Year's eve 2007. Last year I made such a list - I did the easy stuff and I'm still working on the hard stuff - afterall if I accomplished everything on my list what would 2007 hold - life is in the living - we are all "works in progress" and New Year Eve is report card day - which is always followed by a laundry list of things that you'd fix, or change, or do better.

So for 2007 I simply resolve to be better.

That is easy to say and hard to do - I realise that - so this is how I intend to do it - I have the instuction manual on how to be better right in front of me - this poster on my wall here at work – I read it often – there is some deep magic in it.

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 the dull and the 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 and 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 with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

I noticed this poem at Bill Thorpe's visitation a week ago - so maybe it truly is a guide to living well...