STAMATIS SPANOUDAKIS - Autumn
Wladyslaw Czachorski painting
After a while you learn
Veronica A. Shoffstall
After a while you learn the difference,
the subtle difference between holding
a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love does not mean
leaning, and company does not always
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 ahead with
the grace of a woman and 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 the future has a way of falling
into the void.
After a while you learn that the sun burns if
you take it too long.
You learn that no matter how much you care,
some people just do not care ...
And you accept that no matter how good a
person is, they will hurt you once in a while
and you need to forgive them for that.
You learn that talking can relieve emotional pain.
You discover that it takes years to build trust
and only seconds to destroy it, and that you
can do things in an instant which you will regret
for the rest of your life.
You learn that true friendship continues to grow
even over long distances.
And what matters is not what you have in life,
but who you are in life.
And that good friends are the family we choose.
You learn that we do not have to change friends
if we understand that friends change, you realize
that your best friend and you can do anything,
or nothing, and have good times together.
You find out that the people you most care about
in life are taken away from you too quickly, so we
must always leave loved ones with loving words,
as it may be the last time we see them.
You learn that the circumstances and the environment
have influence on us, but we are responsible for ourselves.
You begin to learn that you should not compare yourself
with others, but with the best you yourself can be.
You discover that it takes a long time to become the
person you want to be, and that time is short.
You learn that it doesn’t matter where you got, but
where you're going, but if you don’t know where
you're going, anywhere will do.
You learn that either you control your actions or
they will control you, and that being flexible does
not mean being weak or having no personality,
because no matter how delicate and fragile the
situation is, there are always two sides.
You learn that heroes are people who did what
was necessary by facing the consequences.
You learn that patience requires a lot of practice.
You discover that sometimes the person you expect
to kick you when you fall is one of the few that will
help you get up.
You learn that maturity has more to do with the kinds
of experience you had and what you learned from
them than with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
You learn that there are more of your parents in you
than you thought.
You learn that you should never tell a child that dreams
are silly, some things are so humiliating, and it would be
a tragedy if they believed it.
You learn that when you are angry you have the right to
be angry, but that does not give you the right to be cruel.
You discover that just because someone does not love you
the way you want it does not mean that they do not love
you, because there are people who love us, but just do not
know how to show it.
You learn that it is not always enough to be forgiven by someone,
sometimes you have to learn to forgive your own self.
You learn that with the same harshness you judge, you will
be convicted at some point.
You learn that no matter how many pieces your heart has
been broken into, the world does not stop for you to fix it.
You learn that time is not something that can turn back.
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 ... you really
are strong, and can go a much longer way after thinking
there was no more to go.
And that life really has value and that you have value in life!
and that Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we
could win, if the fear of trying wasn’t there.
A PSALM OF LIFE
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Emile Vernon painting
TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
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