It isn't important 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 isn't important how old you are.
I want to to know if you will risk looking like
a fool for
love, for your dreams, for the adventure of
being
alive.
It isn't important what planets are squaring
your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center
of your own
sorrow; if you have been opened by life's
betrayals or have
become shriveled 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 wildly 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 isn't important if the story you're 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. I want to know if you can be faithful
and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know
if you can see beauty even when it is not
pretty every day, and if you can source your
life from God's presence. I want to know if
you can live with failure, yours and mine, and
still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to
the silver of the full moon, "Yes"!
It isn't important 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.
It isn't important who you are, how you came to
be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center
of the fire and not shrink back.
It isn't important 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.
And, when you answer all of these,
I will love the portion of you that says yes;
and the portion of you that says no.
And, I will know you .........
Original version was by ~~~
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
E-mail
Eve