YOU LEARN

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 always mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises
And you begin accept your defeats
With the grace of a woman
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 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 are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
With every goodbye, you learn.

♥*✿*•♥ Veronica A. Shoffstall ♥*✿*•♥

Source: Thyme and Again, FB

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

To those who see with loving eyes,
Life is beautiful.

To those who speak with a tender voice,
Life is peaceful.

To those who help with gentle hands,
Life is full.

And to those who care with compassionate hearts,
Life is good beyond all measures."

♥*✿*•♥ ANON ♥*✿*•♥

ALONENESS

Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;
Opening to my loss,
I am given unimaginable gifts;
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.
Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-­like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game;
To play it is pure delight,
To honor it is true devotion.

by Jennifer Welwood

Source: Ups, Downs and Roundabouts

A COWBOY'S PRAYER

Oh Lord, I've never lived where churches grow.
I love creation better as it stood,
That day You finished it so long ago
And looked upon Your work and called it good.

I know that others find you in the light
That's sifted down through tinted window panes,
And yet I seem to feel You near tonight
In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains.

I thank You, Lord, that I am placed so well,
That You have made my freedom so complete;
That I'm no slave of whistle, clock, or bell
Nor weak-eyed prisoner of wall and street.

Just let me live my life as I've begun
And give me work that's open to the sky;
Make me a pardner of the wind and sun,
And I won't ask a life that's soft or high.

Let me be easy on the man that's down;
Let me be square and generous with all.
I'm careless sometimes, Lord, when I'm in town,
But never let 'em say I'm mean or small!

Make me as big and open as the plains,
As honest as the hoss between my knees,
Clean as the wind that blows behind the rains,
Free as the hawk that circles down the breeze!

Forgive me, Lord, if sometimes I forget.
You know about the reasons that are hid.
You understand the things that gall and fret;
You know me better than my mother did.

Just keep an eye on all that's done and said
And right me, sometimes when I turn aside,
And guide me on the long, dim trail ahead
That stretches upward toward The Great Divide.

~Badger Clark

Source: The Horse Mafia, FB

WHEN I WAKE EARLY IN THE MORNING

✻ღ♥*✿*•♥ღ✻

When I wake early in the morning,
A brand new day I see,
I lift my head up to the sky,
And thank God for letting me be me.

Uncertain as to what the day will bring,
Don't know what lies ahead,
Not sure of my confrontations,
I ask God to guide me on the path Ill tread.

The birds sing their sweet, sweet song,
The bees hum their precious melody,
The wind blows where it wishes,
All coming together in perfect harmony.

Down on the ground the ants find their prey,
And the squirrel rambles from tree to tree,
The gopher finds its place in a hole,
And the rabbit roams aimlessly.

The beautiful lily blooms bright and fair,
The roses are red and pink and white,
The dandelions are ready for picking,
And the grass is green and full and bright.

How blue and beautiful the sky is above,
How lovely the stream and river and sea,
And each new day I open my eyes,
I thank God for letting me be me.

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Ups, Downs and Roundabouts

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