Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Growing Old and Wise With Grace



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 an adult,
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.
After a while
You learn that even sunshine burns a little if
you get too much.
To 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 reall are strong,
and you really do have worth.
[This is a gift from The Gecho Bar & Grill in White Rock]

17 comments:

Alicia M B Ballard StudioGaleria said...

This is really very nice.
Thank you for sharing it PJ

alan said...

Life on all it's levels in a nutshell!

Thank you for sharing this gift!

alan

jumpinginpuddles said...

lol all those levels are us everyday :P Dont know if that will change , but great poem and pic :D

Jon-Marc McDonald said...

Wow! This is exactly what I needed to read this morning. Every word true.

My favorite: kisses are not contracts

Thanks for sharing this with us!

sjobs said...

That was beautiful poem. I really needed that this morning.

Mary

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Thanks for showing us this; it is excellent.

dragonflyfilly said...

alan; you r welcome!

hi JIP; well, you know the one CONSTANT is change, so, never say never, eh? *chuckle*

hey there jon-marc; yeah, isn't that kool; i got this piece of prose about 5 or 6 years ago when i first went to this neat little restaurant in White Rock (one of my faves)...and i love to share it...it it so pertinent!

hi sjobs i like it when things arrive just when you need them...i'm glad you like it.

hey there jean luc; u r welcome, and thanks for stopping by.

cheers all and have a wonderful day
pj

Ian Lidster said...

Thanks for this, pj, you made it all seem somewhat worthwhile. It made me think of a wonderful bit of wisdom from an elderly lady, I cannot remember who it was:
"As I get older and older,
and totter towards my tomb,
I find myself caring less and less,
Who goes to bed with whom."

Take care,
Ian

dragonflyfilly said...

hi Ian,
thanks for stopping by!

your limerick (may i call it that?) really made me laugh!!! i LUV IT, thanks!

***
~~ i should let y'all know that i am taking a DAY OF SILENCE tomorrow! - no t.v., radio, e-mail, phone contact, etc. i may go out early early for a walk, so as not to bump into any who wants to talk.

be back Sunday or Monday! ~~
***

luv etc.
pj

Greeneyes said...

A friendly hello from NL.

Interesting blog,hope your well
take care .
Greeneyes

Tai said...

That's great!

Thank you!

dragonflyfilly said...

green eyed girl and tai; thanks for stopping by ~~ i'm going into a silent retreat for one day starting in a few minutes, will drop by in a day or so to check your Blogs. ~~

cheers for now,
love and light etc,
pj

Guatyen said...

beautiful. i love it :)

They call him James Ure said...

Ah my dear PJ...thank-you for posting this beautiful poem. I have this exact one on my fridge and gain inspiration from it daily. Thank-you for the timely reminder.

Blessings, love, light and peace to you.

Jo said...

Wisdom does not always come with age. Trust me, I know this. Hopefully, though, one maintains grace throughout.

Belizegial said...

Hey PJ

How did the silent retreat go? I would love to do the same, but with two small chatterboxes at home, would be hard to do this. Unless, we all became versatile in spatial/sign language *LOL*

Just wanted to say hey and let u know that I recently added your blogsite under my favorite links.

Ttfn,
Enid

dragonflyfilly said...

Hi Enid, m "silent retreat" went well, and was very self-revealing. Yes! it is certainly impossible to do if you have childrend around. I would never attempt it under those circumstances. Sign-language is out of the question, as the whole purpose is to still the mind, that is why one does not watch t.v. or even listen to music, and preferably one should not even journal. So...

thanks for linking me to your BlogSpot...i will do the same as soon as i figure out how to do it PROPERLY.

josie. while growing old is inevitable, whether one does so with grace is a conscious choice, which i am choosing, although SOME people might perceive it as something else. AND, like a lot of things, wisdom is relative -- heh hah!

see "james", yet ANOTHER similarity we see to share!!!! hmmmmm....back at you with the BLLP!!

HI alison koh; thanks for stopping by - i'm glad you liked the poem...as james said, it's good to remind oneself of these things from time to time.