Loss and Gain

"Loss and Gain"

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When I compare

What I have lost with what I have gained,

What I have missed with what attained,

Little room do I find for pride.

I am aware

How many days have been idly 

spent:

How like an arrow the good

intent.

Has fallen short or been turned

aside.

But who shall dare

To measure loss and gain in this 

wise?

Defeat may be victory in 

disguise;

The lowest ebb is the turn of the

tide.

     This one is not for someone else.  This is a hurdle in my life journey that I have refused to engage.  I never did care for 'the hurdles'.  I much preferred an outright sprint.  Those nasty things that got in the way of the finish line.  They sure looked like knee bruisers and toe catchers to me!!!  I never entered that race.

LOSS AND GAIN

   

     Black and White.  Yin and Yang.  Credit and Debit.  Good and Evil.  Always seeking the 'balance'. I know when training the sheepdog, initially we want them to naturally come to balance.  It feels good and right.  Then they can work from there bringing the flock directly to you.  It feels comfortable.  A little further on, you have to have them feel comfortable out of balance.  They must trust that there is a reason for this and that it will be good and all work out the way it should in the end.  Maybe that is the way gain and loss is too.

     I have been bitch-slapped with this issue.  I just want to ignore it.  My driven nature and hard work ethics has allowed me to reach many of my personal goals.  I have had favorable luck to fall into some of the good fortune bestowed upon me.

     Maybe life is like a game of Tetris where life is throwing you blocks, but you only have the time and energy to place them where you can.  It is not so easy teetering half-way up the structure, to go back and silly putty in the voids that you also inadvertently lose along the way. At the end of the day, you re-evaluate and there are some big areas of emptiness that you will have to be brave and skillful to fill in.  You must fill those in.  If not you lead a life out of balance....all the time.

     One doesn't want to waste too much time looking at those around them, wondering, what the hell went wrong there?  Or on the flip side, WOW isn't she or he just an amazing evolved human?  You know darn well that they had crossroads to make right or left turns at.  You also know that these wise well adjusted individuals have had to deal with loss and gain too.  Point being that you are not the only one on the planet to feel this way.  It has to be universal.  "The genius is knowing that what is true for you in your heart is what is true for all mankind" -RWE.

     The simple question we must answer, is why lump loss/gain together?  Easy kindergarden answer: is that if you do not gain anything more, you will never lose it.  And how desperate do we become not to process and mourn our losses???  Well, watch that TV show 'the Hoarders'.  Something has gone terribly wrong there.  I am almost positive that is some form of mal-adjusted loss/gain issue.  Desperate to not lose anymore.... what ever.  Desperate to fill in the missing Tetris Blocks.  Scared to let anything more go.  Where is the breaking point?  Where does a soul become so hollow that there is nothing left? Now that is crazy deep stuff.  My issues are merely scratches in a teflon pan in comparison.  However, I sometimes feel that my fried eggs are ready to slip off the pan...

    I have tried the "living in the moment" mode.  I don't think it works entirely well for me.  I am a visionary.  You kill the visionary if you take away the vision.  It's my mode of transportation through life.  Yes, I will take it, and I know that I may never be fully satisfied in  the moment.  I think I can take that too.

     "Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure" - Ben Franklin

     Maybe I am just a sheepdog that is more comfortable a little out of balance.  Maybe that is why I like my dog Tic, when others don't.  We are both a "little on the muscle", and covering a draw that only we can feel. 

     Early this summer I found out that an old wilderness horsepacking buddy of mine, Penny (only a few years older than me), had passed away unexpectedly in the hospital from an unknown malady. I mourned her all summer.  She was a full of life, grab it by the seat of the pants, wild-west woman!!!  Not sure how many times my uncle bailed her out of jail, but I think a few! I liked her! A lot!  His retirement party she pulled up on a Harley dressed in leathers and changed into her LBD for the event.  How friggin' kewl is that?

     Well here's a spin on my agonizing (loss/gain) struggle.  Yesterday, I found out that she is ALIVE!!!

"The rumors of my demise have been

greatly exaggerated!"

-Mark Twain

    

       So happy!!! So relieved.  I will make a bigger effort to be a better friend.  We will have a celebration of life ceremony with someone who is still ACTUALLY alive.

      Reflecting deeply on my 'make it happen vs let it happen' saga, I am not a very good victim of life. I can not see myself sitting in some rocking chair lamenting about how life was not good to me.  However, in my semi-vast readings, there is  a common  theme woven throughout, and that is living fully in the moment.  Hmmmm.  Maybe this is in two different planes.  Maybe you can have the make it happen and let it happen at the same time.  The Yin and the Yang.  The Gain and the Loss.

                                                                       Addendum

Loss and Gain

Not mutually exclusive,

rather mutually inclusive
            Complementary forces that interact

        to form a greater whole in a complex world

        To engage fully you can't get 

        away with partial experiences

     

"A Working Dog"

"A WORKING DOG"

I've seen the Rocky Mountains

And the Gulf of Mexico,

The California surfers

And palm trees by the row.

I've read the works of Shakespeare

And seen Picasso's paint,

The sounds of concert pianists

And heard the bagpipes quaint.

And all of these have thrilled me,

but not one could compare

With watching herding dogs a-working,

A single or a pair.

There's magic in each movement

Than Mozart never had,

And beauty in each turn

That makes my heart feel glad.

There's feeling in the handling

That only poets know,

Or wo/men that work with stock dogs

And feel the teamwork grow.

Wherever life may take you

In sunshine or in fog,

You'll never quite forget it

When once you've worked a dog.

          -Author Unknown

Parallel-O-Grams

 




     So as a kid, I loved basketball.  I carried one everywhere with me.  I dribbled it on the rocky ranch roads.  My brothers finally put a little hoop up for me when I was about 6 so I would stay out of their way on the big court.  Living on a ranch, I pretty much had to entertain myself.  So basketball was one of my main obsessions.   At the time my town was pretty rural and there was very little organized sports and virtually none for pre-Jr High.  My sister's roommate in college played for UNR's women's basketball team.  By a strange turn of events after watching several of her games they asked me to be the "ballgirl".  Bless my Mom and Dad's heart they let me.  For about 3 years they drove me an hour or so in and an hour or so home to every home game UNR womens team played.   I  warmed up with the ladies, and sat on the bench, gave out much needed water, and swept the floors at half time.

     My Dad was on the local school board for like a hundred years.  I think that having a big family and living in a rural community, being involved is like a requisite.  All my sibs were shipped to another county to go to high school, and it was one of his goals to build a high school in our hometown before his last kid (me) graduated.

     I was so proud to have a brand new high school as a ninth grader to go to.  Actually I was so excited, it would be MY gym.  My teams would break it in. We would be the pioneers for all records that would eventually have to be broken.  We had brand new uniforms.  And I had brand new sparkling white Converse All-Stars and matching sweatbands..... it was a dream come true.  Varsity starting point guard as a freshman!!!

     I will never forget our first away game.  We played Austin High School.  Being a rural Nevada school the bonus(not) is you get to drive many many hours to play teams of your own size.  I can't paint this picture clear enough!!!  The gym was so small we had to stand to watch the boys varsity play.  When it was our turn, we stepped out onto the court against a very seasoned scrappy tough team made up of ranch kids and native american kids that were meaning MEAN business.  We lost that game horrifically.  The score was something like 75-15.  They had a tremendous native american player named Arlenne Hooper, who claimed she was going to play for UCLA (don't think that came to fruition).  I had to guard her.  My 5th foul was somehow with my face.  It was my first broken nose.  I watched my team get annihilated standing at the end of the bench with blood gushing from both nostrils.  I never cried!!!  However I couldn't choke down a morsel of the spaghetti the booster club made for us afterwards.... rather I just slunk back onto the bus and found my seat for the long and silent ride home.  Wow, that's what humble pie tastes like.  My first bite was BIG and it hurt going down.

     The several hours that I had to reflect on that ride home were amazing.  This is where I had to decide if my lifelong dream was really a  nightmare and I was just delusional. Maybe I should quit!!!  I really was good at so many other things.  After all, I just barely weighted 100 lbs and I wasn't very tall at all.  I did have tears, but only in the dark.  And my pristine shoes were all blotched up with blood.  Everything that could have gone wrong, did!!!!  Somewhere in the darkness, with the dank smell of sweat, semi soaked in blood and tears I developed a sense of resolve.  I WOULD NOT quit and I would not let my team quit either!!!!  I would lead them and protect them!!!  And that is what I did.

Dry Lake SDT 2012

Outrun 625 yards

     Maybe this is why I am so drawn to this new sport of sheepdogging.   I think the magic of the handler and amazingly talented sheepdog on the huge unconquerable fields is just one blade away from being impossible.  Yet somehow they do it!!!

Zamora SDT 2012

pic by Kelsey Nichols

trial field behind- huge outrun

     Maybe I am innately masochistic, and I just enjoy pressing myself through failure over and over.  Maybe I will just dwell in failure here for the rest of my life, happily.  The journey.  Oh the journey. I think the draw is doing what is deemed to the normal eye impossible.  It would be like me having to conquer the rubix cube, and then having to acheive the best time on it (6 minutes was my best).  HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE.  Well, I am here to tell you it is not easy.  But even if you've just got your nose bloodied and you're on the long bus ride home,  I already know that it will be so worth it in the end.  I've walked that path many many times already.  In the gym the misnomer is mattering to the crowd and the fans.  In the field the sililoquy is mattering to yourself.

Transition

Of Men and Mice

The best laid schemes o' mice and men

often go awry

     Being a visionary IS important.  

Even if the best laid plans can change in life. 

 We also must hone our skills of flexibility. 

"All my pictures seem to fade to black and white"

-Elton

       So what should we do when we plan and envision a pathway that does not occur.  'Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.'  Enjoy the journey.  Have faith that things are as they should be.  And your pathway is leading you in the right direction.  

      I love this expedition.  One has only so much control over the outcome.  Peace is not loneliness. That has been a big epiphany for me this week.  Peace is not loneliness.  And I really like peace.

Let life happen vs. make life happen

Ok here's the question.  Just let life happen vs make life happen.  From a religious view, is it the Calvinistic approach that when you are born your pathway has already been predestined, so just hold on an enjoy the ride.  Or rather God helps those who help themselves?  If you're not overtly religious,  maybe the PS analogy of going through life/training as an artist is more for you.  Your style can be either paint by numbers, impressionist, or all the way to the abstract.  Your style in how you approach life, is also the same style that you will train and relate to your dogs.... or approach your work/career.....or your home life.

This, indeed, was the question of the weekend.  My answer.....  I think the way that one approaches life has a lot to do with their personality and their background.  Without getting totally psycho-analytical on the topic, it is a key answer to people's style/approach to training, goals for training, and their need for "team"/success.

When I do interviews to fill a position in my business, I look for good people.  I let them do most of the interview.  They tell me about themselves.  Most people are very honest if you listen.  I like emotional intelligence and honesty, amongst many other intangibles.  I always ask - "have you played a team sport?" The answer usually dictates if they will have long term success in my business.  My point that I am trying to make is that people who are from more of a team back ground tend to be more goal oriented, with give and take built in.  Not always.  But if you set a goal, work hard as a team, use intelligent strategy, most often times you will find success.  Let me clarify for the peanut gallery, success comes in many forms it does not always have to be via winning.

So let life happen vs make life happen???  I am definitely more of a visionary make life happen kind of person.  I do believe that on the journey of life you have to also compromise and be flexible, as not to break when things do not go your way.  But that does not sway me one bit from envisioning the pathway that I walk down.  I can not say if I am right or if I am wrong, I believe that we are all different in our styles and in what we deem important in our lives.  It is right for me at this time.  I tend to like all art.  A perfect paint by numbers...I can appreciate.  But I like a piece that speaks to your soul and draws you into it.  A piece that has a deeper meaning, that a passerby would most likely not "get".

I have large distain for those who do nothing and blame others for their misery.  It is very difficult for me to feel compassion for an individual who has a "victims mentality" in life.  You see that more so with people who cling to the just let life happen approach.  They never take responsibility for the consequences that tend to come their way.  It's not their fault.

I feel sadness for those who have no vision.  I think a life without evaluation or direction is just wandering lost in a wilderness.  Yes, good things still happen and one might be able to enjoy that in the moment.  But it is more like color crayons than a great masterpiece.

In closing, I feel that you can still live in the moment, actualizing the good/bad and still have vision for the future.  It must be a balance.  If your eyes are always forward or backward...then you miss the beautiful day.

Spin.  How does this relate to training and relating to your dogs.  I think it is very much style related.  I think that you have vision for you individual dog.  You plot your pathway accordingly.  When you spend timeless hours communicating and working toward that goal you will hit obstacles.   When you reach an obstacle this is where emotional intelligence comes into play.  You can't force things to happen.  This is when you have to let things happen.  When the window is open for learning, it must be recognized and the appropriate style should ensue to bridge that gap.  Yes, with all of this said, still keeping your eye on the goal.  Not every individual (dog, handler, or said team) will reach that goal.  Their destiny may be different.  That is the ride.  It is up to us to do our best on that day for our dog and ourselves.  It may not be the dog who is failing the team.  And the flip side is that you as a handler may be a success to just reach that level.  Keep being aware.

It's a jungle out there

     So I tend to do some of my best thinking and reflecting in the shower.  I feel that after my morning coffee and hot shower.... it's all downhill from there.  Not really.  But I love my morning routine.  Innately in my younger years I would sleep until 10am and stay awake until 2-3am.  I never had the luxury of living my diurnal-nocturnal lifestyle.  Now my early mornings are treasured as the peaceful "my time" of the day.

     Reflecting this morning I thought about how I seemed to always relate to the chameleon.  Throughout my life I stayed very diverse and flexible.  In college my focus, unfortunately, was to play collegiate basketball.  Oh yah, and get an education.  In that order.  It boiled down to my choice of a full ride academic scholarship to UNLV with a major in Hotel Management and red shirt my first year on a Division I team  OR  a full ride athletic/academic to a private college CBU and  be back up point guard right away, on a potential championship team.  Well that was a no brainer.  And being the Chameleon that I was, I could blend and excel at either place I was certain.

     I believe it wasn't a case of arrested development, but more so a case of a shiny mirror.  What you see, is what you want to see.  If I was out dancing at a night club, I fit in.  If I was sitting in a church pew, I fit in.  If I was leading a fast break in a playoff game, I fit in.  If I was a park ranger at Lake Tahoe, I fit in.  If  I was at a fundraising benefit dinner wearing a sequin dress, I fit in.  If I was horsepacking in the Teton Wilderness, I fit in.  If I was playing beer pong, I fit in.  If I was doing a rectal exam on a cow...... well let's not go there.

     I am happy that I am at a point in my own evolution that I am not so worried about blending in or what other people think so much anymore.  With a few wrinkles and a few grey hairs (we are sticking with only a few) I am more concerned about living fully and truly.  Not that I ever  REALLY worried too much about what others thought, but maybe more on the perception of my character.  Carrying the heavy anvil of my "perfection" goal, became insanely heavy to my soul in my overworked/overwrought middle years. Mortality issues trumped perception issues, and it just didn't matter anymore.  I think one day, I just hung up my Chameleon jacket and started sporting my inner colors.  I like the analogy of choosing Carnelian over Chameleon.

The pursuit of truth and beauty is 

a sphere of activity

in which we are permitted to remain

children all of our lives.

-Albert Einstein

The truth is incontrovertible.

Malice may attack it,

ignorance may deride it,

but in the end,

there it is.

-Winston Churchill

This above all:

To thine own self be true, 

and it must follow, 

as the night the day.

Thou canst not then

be false to any man.

-Hamlet, Shakespeare 

Our life is what our thoughts 

make it.

-Marcus Aurelius
(Notice, no Dr. Theodor Seuss quotes)

New Years Blog

     2011 was a challenging year of change and personal growth.  I do believe, in the circle of life, everyone at one time or another, travels through these eddies.  How one responds to these challenges is the fiber that is woven together to create your character.  In ones own personal commitment to drink deeply from the well spring of life, we invite both good and bad to pass by our paw prints on our own personal path with less wear.

     I can reflect on 2011 and bid it a fond farewell with my belt a little tighter, my heart a little softer, my appreciation of the moment a little more aware, and my fiber a little taughter.

Counting Blessings

     Most importantly, I found an appreciation of the NOW.  Most great philosophies evolve around a premise of living in the moment.  Finding a peace and contentment that permeates through your being. Not sacrificing your vision.  Just not living in the someday.  Not being one much for religious gatherings, I have found peace in training my dogs in remote fields and mountain foothills.  And also in riding my horses solo away from cell phone coverage.  My favorite Uncle Howard always said he found his religion on high narrow trails.

     Chided by life's demands and human energy suckers, I took a step back.  Partly for self preservation, and partly out of necessity, I retreated. I found the large number of energy bandits, were REALLY annoyed. The individuals made from their own clay were NOT.  Now I know.  And yes, it counts big. Thank you to those who stayed.

     2011's challenges were good.  I released a lot of my life, some was chosen and some not so much.  I found friends from all walks of life and diversities that know without saying.  I gained a source of renewable peace and clean/pure energy revitalization.  I found happiness from internal resources, with a few extra tail wags, externally.  In extracting my parasitic relationships, I can have better focus on my healing energy and arts, and continue stumbling down the pathway of my journey.

"The objection to conforming to usages

that have become dead to you,

is that it scatters your force.

It loses your time

and blurs the impression

of your character."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

2012 RESOLUTIONS 

     In the early 80's I made a resolution that every year I would do something new.  Of course the way life unfolds, that has happened without much effort.  I look forward to whatever is new on the horizon. The cultured and refined.  The raw and gritty.  The unexpected.  "This should be interesting" - (My Dad's last words to me before passing).

     I wish for all my clay brick worthy friends, a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!  And I wish for all my yellow jello shot friends, a new chance to get it right....what ever that means for you on your journey.  (I am still pulling for you!)

Just Do It

"The Gods favor the bold"

-Gladiator

"Competition has been shown to be useful up to a 

certain point and no further, 

but cooperation, which is the thing we must

strive for today,

begins where competition

leaves off."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The healthiest competition occurs when

average people win

by putting above average effort."

-Colin Powell

     We have all heard the phrase it is better to be lucky, than good.  It is nice.  It shows humility and makes us feel as if we are being magnanimous to those around us.  And lady luck is always great to have on ones side.  However, I think that practice and hard work makes one lucky.  Our great state of Nevada is somewhat built on the premise of luck.... and gambling.  I think we don't pay state taxes essentially on a human fault.  The ego that thinks that deep down, we are all lucky.  It is human nature that needs to feel like a winner at one level or another.  It is a human validation that needs to be fulfilled, and unfortunately the laws of statistical analysis are ignored.  Math and science are so cold.  While finding the best parking spot, and winning the 'Money Train' make us feel so warm.

     Ultimately like anything else it must be a balance.  Luck is luck.  But perception of lucky is envisioned on usually unknown or unseen sacrifices and deep dedication.  I believe having VISION is more relevant.  I am amazed at how many stumble through life with no vision.  Envision the pathway that you might be able to journey down.  It is your dream, your painting, your story - so to say.  Without vision, we would have never walked on the moon, built huge skyscrapers, or evolved culturally. 


     'God helps those, who help themselves.' I think that in the face of our current economy and state of our country and world, this phrase is very relevant. I know it's hard out there.  But I have a difficult time feeling sorry for those who do not even try.  Do work people!!!  I know at the risk of sounding aged, I can not stand the current level of entitlement.  And entitlement without effort, and no regard for consequence of action.  There is also consequence of inaction.

"Self-entitlement is the honoring of oneself

with no basis and without

acknowledging consequences."

-M.E.

     Vision and luck are nothing without action.  It is better to do something than nothing.  It is better to move forward than to stay stagnant.  Life is dynamic.  "Life is a journey (the hated J-word) and not a destination." So many cliches, so little time.

     

     This is a prologue to my new years blog.  

"I never worry about action, but 

only inaction."

-W. Churchill

"Action expresses priorities."

-Gandhi

"Do you want to know who you are?

Don't ask.

ACT!  

Action will delineate 

and define you."

-Thomas Jefferson

"I'm a woman of very few words, but lots of action"

-Mae West

"We become just by performing just action,

temperate by performing temperate actions,

brave by performing brave action."

-Aristotle 

March Madness

It was high counsel that I once heard

given to a young person- "Always do

what you are afraid to do"

RWE

Take calculated risks.

That is quite different from

being rash.

George S. Patton

After the game

the king and the pawn

go into the same box

-Italian proverb

A good athlete always mentally replays

a competition over and over,

even in victory, to see

what might be done to

improve the performance

the next time.

-Frank Shorter

It is about the game after all now isn't it?? The game of life. The game of work. The game of love. And whatever other realm you chose to enter to compete. The irony is amazing.

So here it is I am starting the parallel journey of competing as a team alongside my dogs, that reflects my evolution as a human. Now that is IRONIC. This is not the first or the last competition that I have encountered. It may be the toughest, that is yet to be foretold. It may be the purest of all competitions. I can train for it in the rain with a flock of soggy ewes, guiding them for hours while they graze... and my mind wanders, but my dog never does.

I have always been competitive. From the time I was very young I have had to strive for survival. Twice before I was 3 I ate toxic substances on our family ranch landing me in ICU in critical situations. I was tough and mean, the nurses didn't like seeing me back a second time. I didn't like seeing them either!!!

March Madness leads us to the big national basketball tournament that happens this time every year. So I will skip to the college basketball playing days. Two of my four years we won our conference tournament and proceeded on the road to the "Big Dance". That level of competition for me was bitter-sweet. Sweet, because it was my 'DREAM', and I was living it. Bitter, because no one can prepare you for that level of intense scrutiny and competition. I love pure competition. But life is not always that pure.

Things I learned to take into life from my college days of competing. I love my team. A true team sticks together through thick and thin. All parts of the team rely on each other, and you truly are only as strong as your weakest link. I learned how to be a "role" player. Even if I thought (and I could) be the ONE.... I was ok with not being the ONE, as long as we were able to succeed. And when the chosen ones failed, I would always fill the role and ensure victory without honor. The closer!!! And that is truly a tough role to play. I learned to be a "decoy". I would do the hard work and run the gambit knowing that I would allow another honor, but ultimately the victory for the team. I was a student of the game. I learned everything forward and backward. I saw nuances that the coach would never see. I set us up for success. And in the end I did not quit!!! The contradiction in that was that I probably should have. At the super high insane stress level that we operated at....being the team captain and point guard I was the easy target for the infuriated coach. He knew I could take anything he would dish out... and I did. To a point, that I actually lost respect for myself. I would not stand up for myself. I would not quit. At what price??? I am still not sure.

However, I take into life, and into my training that there is a higher good. Winning is not the ultimate goal. Purity of competition is. Excellence. The zone. Never compromise yourself or your dog for the game. Always seek the zone.... Not easy to find, but once you've been there, you know!

If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much

and winning in not very exciting.

-Dick Vemeil

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel

are the things that endure. These qualities

are so much more important than the

events that occur.

-Vince Lombardi

Do not let what you cannot do

interfere with what you can do

-John Wooden

Be more concerned with your character

than with your reputation. Your

character is what you really are

while your reputation is merely what

others think you are.

-John Wooden

I've always made a total effort, even when

the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying;

I never felt that I didn't have a chance to win.

-Arnold Palmer

Desiderata

Desiderata

-Max Ehrmann 1920's

Go placidly amid the noise and the 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 to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater

and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy you 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 in your soul

With all its sham, drudgery,

and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be

happy.

Addendum:  This one never grows old.  Always a good reminder and gauge for us in life.  Meaning seems to be a little different, a little deeper and more personal every time I read it.