Contemplation

This being human is a guest house.

 Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

 some momentary awareness comes

 as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

 Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

 who violently sweep your house

 empty of its furniture,

 still, treat each guest honorably.

 He may be clearing you out

 for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

 meet them at the door laughing

 and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.

 because each has been sent

 as a guide from beyond.

Jelaluddin Rumi

Be patient toward all

that is unsolved in your heart

and try to love

the questions themselves,
like locked rooms

and like books

that are now written

in a very foreign tongue.

Do not now seek the answers,

which cannot be given you

because you would not

be able to live them.

And the point is,

to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then gradually,
without noticing it,

live along some distant day

into the answer.

Rainer Maria Rilke

It’s not about perfection.
 It’s about wholeness.

Adyashanti

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interest in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

"Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann

Will I dare

to check  my views

against what is real?

I might lose

long cherished convictions

when no "Should" and "Shouldn't"

can survive.

Udo Walger