After awhile you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open.
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in mid flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
That you really have worth and you really are strong.
And you learn and you learn.....
With every good-bye you learn.
- Ronda Butler
Oct 4, 1939 - Dec 18, 2002
Sep 19, 1965 - Dec 22, 1985
I want to know what you ache for,
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 your love, your dream, 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 own sorrow,
if you have been opened up by life's betrayals
or have been shriveled and closed from fear or further pain.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling 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 isn't pretty everyday.
It doesn't interest 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 know 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 truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
-Indian Elder
No disease that enough love will not heal
No door that enough love will not bridge
No wall that enough love will not throw down
No sin that enough love will not redeem.
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble
How hopeless the outlook
How muddled the tangle
How great the mistake
A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.
If only you could love enough
You could be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.
- Emmett Fox
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