A Poem: Veronica A. Shoffstall

Found this amongst my papers, too.

From Veronica A. Shoffstall

After a while 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 tho 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 a while you learn that even sunshine

Burns if you get too much

So you 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 are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn and learn

With every goodbye you learn.

Quote: W. Somerset Maugham

I am not sure if I am quoting this correctly, as I have seen it differently elsewhere. I had it on a piece of paper that I wrote it on from a long time ago. It is from  W. Somerset Maugham, and it is from The Razor's Edge. If anyone happens to see this and have it, please feel free to correct me, it. Thanks.

"It is very difficult to know people. For men and women are not only themselves, they are also the region in which they were born, the city apartment or the farm in which they learned to walk, the games they played a children, the old wives' tales they overheard, the food they ate, the schools they attended the sports they followed, the poets they read, and the God they believed in. You can know them only if you are them."

Quote | Image | On Love

Rumi Quote

My friend, Jane Harris, 
shared this on Facebook today:

If you are irritated by every rub, 
how will you be polished?

-Rumi

Rumi has a way with words,
and life certainly does polish.

Quote | No mud, No Lotus

"No mud, No Lotus."
-Thich Nhat Hanh

I saw this quote today, and
went looking to confirm the
authorship.  I found a blogger
who talks about it, and the
significance of the lotus.

The idea of the quote alone
spoke to me, but if you want
to investigate it further, just
click the link above.

The lotus also has a reputation
of being easy to bend, but
difficult to break.

So we grow in the mud, and
as we go, we bend easier and
become more difficult to break.

Not such a terrible thought...
and maybe even downright
empowering.