I have bad news folks…we are all getting older! Have you ever considered how you want to age as you get older? Will you be someone who finishes your life bitter and crass? Will you be an individual full of regret of the things that you COULD have accomplished? Or will you be gratified and content knowing that you met all of your life’s goals and dreams?
How will you allow your experiences and happenings in your life shape you as the years go on?
I recently found the following poem that I think is a beautiful illustration of someone who has a fantastic goal of the kind of life that they would like to have. I hope that it encourages you.
There is nothing better that having good friends. Having those special people that we can go and share our thoughts, concerns, as well as the good and bad times we experience, are simply priceless. That’s why, I believe, that whenever we can, we should take the time to honor our friends. friends truly are a blessing!
Today’s little poem is actually a toast. It is a nice little thing that you can share the next time you have the opportunity to make a toast and give a nice, small toast of thankfulness to your friends 🙂
Make new friends,
But keep the old;
The new are silver,
The old ones are gold.
New made friends
Like new made wine;
With age doth mellow,
It and refine.
But unlike age,
that turneth gray;
Old friendship,
Never doth decay.
So, make new friends,
But keep the old;
The new are silver,
The old are gold.
I have always enjoyed discovering heartwarming, inspirational, and motivational stories and anecdotes for my blog. Every once in a while, I like to “change gears” and read poems and quotes written by others. I have always been fascinated by how every individual writes poetry in their own special way.
I recently came across a few poems on a friend of mine’s blog, “Timeless Classics“, in which the poetry and prose are written by Ana Daksina herself. If you like different kinds of poetry, then I recommend you check out her site…I think you’ll love it.
Today, I would like to share one of her poems with you named, “Perhaps I Never Will.”
“Perhaps I Never Will”
We came back to the farm that day
Where dogs had in our absence been
Describe to you the scene we found
I could not e’en begin
The custom in deep country is
If you let your dog get away
For someone else’s chickens
Ducks and geese prepare to pay
Nor will you seeing be
That dog ever again
The farmer has the given right
To shoot it there and then
Walking our farm I understood
They willing were to take one out
For feathered wildlife full of blood
Was strewn that ground all round about
Not even eaten — just destroyed
In malice and in sport
I might myself unto a rifle
Given chance had had resort
That cataclysm did provide
As cataclysms sometimes do
A most amazing story
Which I will tell to you:
Of all the carcasses that lay
About the farmstead strewn —
An aftermath of genocide
Upon a sunny afternoon —
A single goose survived
But did so with a broken wing
Being a goose there’d be no way
To put it in a sling
At that time but a callow girl
Sixteen years of age
And city bred, this in my life
Turned an untouched page
The closest I had ever been
To one of Nature’s creatures when
My sister’d got a hamster
Around the age of ten
The other people on that farm
To save the bird did not agree
They walked away and left
Its healing or its death to me
I sat down there beside it
Stroked its head and murmured low
That if it wished to live
That mangled wing would have to go
And that I really hated
What I’d have to put it through
And asked the goose what it prefer
That I prepare to do
Looking back, I should have been
In that moment more amazed
That when I lifted it to move
It didn’t get all crazed
But quietly lay in my arms
And let me take it to
The bathroom and into the tub
To see what I could do
Anyone skilled in medicine
Would hate me for the blundering
Ineptitude with which I cut
From that poor goose its wing
But strange to say, the bird itself
Not only didn’t hate me, it
Didn’t even slightly twitch
As I ministered to it
But settled down as though to help
A partner in a team of two
Me operating surgic’lly
The goose quietly pulling through
And pull through ‘gainst all odds
And expectation’s what it did
I always will be happy that I
Did as my good conscience bid
But sometimes stop to wonder:
How did that goose stay so, so still?
I still don’t understand it
Perhaps I never will
**If you enjoyed this poem and would like to read others, I would ask you to please visit Ana’s page, “Timeless Classics.”
Have you ever tried to help other people and do something thoughtful and kind, yet become discouraged, disheartened, or upset when the outcome didn’t turn out the way you expected? There are times throughout our lives, when may t to accomplish certain goals, overcome negative or hurtful situations, and fall short. It can become very dispiriting, demoralizing, or down-right depressing.
There are two things that a can do when they face a difficult circumstance: 1) dwell on the negative, become bitter, lose focus, and quit the things that they were trying to accomplish, or, 2) maintain a single-mindedness desire to accomplish a goal, dream, or to help others. What decision would you make?
A few days ago, I came the following little sonnet (Author Unknown) which I found to be a good source of encouragement to me. It is my wish that it will motivate you to stay positive and focused in your quest to make others happy and when you chase your dreams.
“Do It Anyway”
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered:
FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish and ulterior motives:
BE KIND ANYWAY.
If you are successful, you will win false friends:
SUCCEED ANYWAY.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you:
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight:
BUILD ANYWAY.
If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous:
BE HAPPY ANYWAY.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow:
DO GOOD ANYWAY.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough:
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU HAVE ANYWAY.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God:
Millions of people around the world believe in a greater, powerful being. For the individuals that don’t share that belief, then, unfortunately, today’s poem is not for you…or is it? There are many things that we don’t know about God but we do believe that He takes care and loves us unconditionally. The following poem is meant to give you something to think about and well as be thankful for the blessings that have.
What if, GOD couldn’t take the time to bless us today because
we couldn’t take the time to thank Him yesterday?
What if, GOD decided to stop leading us tomorrow because
we didn’t follow Him today?
What if, we never saw another flower bloom because
we grumbled when GOD sent the rain.
What if, GOD didn’t walk with us today because
we failed to recognize it as His day?
What if, GOD took away the Bible tomorrow because
we would not read it today?
What if, GOD took away His message because
we failed to listen to the messenger?
What if, GOD didn’t send His only begotten Son because
He wanted us to be prepared to pay the price for sin.
What if, the door of the church was closed because
we did not open the door of our heart?
What if, GOD stopped loving and caring for us because
we failed to love and care for others?
What if, GOD would not hear us today because
we would not listen to Him yesterday?
What if, GOD answered our prayers
the way we answer His call to service?
What if, GOD met our needs
the way we give Him our lives???
May your stuffing be tasty May your turkey plump, May your potatoes and gravy Have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious And your pies take the prize, And may your Thanksgiving dinner Stay off your thighs!
When an old man died in a nursing home, nurses found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed them, it was spread throughout the nursing home and afar. The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in magazines for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his poem. And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this ‘anonymous’ poem winging across the Internet.
————————
Cranky Old Man
What do you see nurses?
What do you see?
What are you thinking…
When you are looking at me?
A cranky old man,
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit
With faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food
And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice…
“I do wish you’d try!”
Who seems not to notice…
The tings that you do.
And forever is losing…
A sock or a shoe?
Who, resting or not…
Let’s you do as you will,
While bathing and feeding…
The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse…
You’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am…
As I sit here so still,
As I do all your bidding,
As I eat your will.
I’m a small child of Ten…
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters…
Who love one another.
A young boy of sixteen…
With wings on his feet,
Dreaming that soon now…
A lover he’ll meet.
A groom at twenty…
My heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows…
That I promised to keep.
At twenty-five, now…
I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide…
And a secure happy home.
A man of thirty…
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other…
With ties that will last.
At forty, my young sons…
Have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me….
To see I don’t mourn.
At fifty, once more,
Babies play ‘round my knee,
Again, we know children…
My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me…
My wife is now dead.
I look to the future…
I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing…
Young of their own.
And I think of the years…
And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man…
And nature is cruel.
It’s jest to make old age…
Look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles…
Grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone…
Where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass…
A young man still dwells,
And now and again…
My battered heart swells.
I remember the joys…
I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living…
Life over again.
I think of the years,
All too few…gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact…
That nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people…
Open and see.
Not a cranky old man…
Look closer…see…ME!
—————
Remember this poem when you meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the soul within. Remember, we will all, one day, be there, too!
It has once been said that “A dog is man’s best friend.” I know one thing for sure, I had an awesome dog as a kid and he WAS one of my best friends, Here’s a cute little poem dedicated to all of our “friends” who have left this earth to go to the “Great Beyond.”
