Monday, January 05, 2004

Happy 2004 It took a fair amount of will power to force myself out of bed this morning and out the door to the gym by 7 o'clock. Coming in to work was also a bit of a struggle. Now that I'm here, it's not so bad, or won't be once I get through my 10 days worth of emails. The break was fabulous though. It's back to the grind for Joe and the kids today too, plus all their various activites start up again, which means Joe and Janet's Taxi Service will be running at full tilt once more. Iris is signing up for an additional dance class (we told her she could if she got her marks up to where we felt they should be). I think she's decided on hip hop. Something to Think About Seeing as how a brand new year tends to provide us with an opportunity reflect on our accomplishments, goals, desires and needs, I thought the following might be appropriate. I came across it over the holidays in a book I was reading. It was written by an Indian elder named Oriah Mountain Dreamer: It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking a fool for love, for your dreams, 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 by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me 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, if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!" 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 the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed 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 intrerest 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 if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.   9:52:50 AM

© Copyright 2004 Janet Patterson. Last update: 2/2/2004; 10:19:28 AM.