Who are you really ? A poem
I just came across this inspiring poem about what really matters in a person.
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 hearts 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 dreams, for the adventure of being alive.It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your sorrow,
If you have been opened by life’s betrayals,
Or if you have become shriveled and closed for 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,
Be realistic or 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 disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when its’ not pretty every day
And if you can source your life from it’s presence.
I want to know if you live with failure, yours or mine,
And still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon “YES.”It doesn’t interest me me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone
And do what needs to be done for the children.It doesn’t interest me who you are or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center 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.by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder May 1994
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