Placid

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Among my favorite pieces of poetry, Desiderata by Max Ehrmann, is the most meaningful for me. I consider it a sort of concise instructional manual on how to live.  Interestingly, I first began to fully appreciate it when I spent a summer at my Aunt's house in L.A. before I began high school because it was posted in her bathroom. Yes, bathroom...so that when you sit on the toilet, it's right in front of you. I kid you not. While I have linked Desiderata above, I would like to share my favorite sections:

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence...

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story...

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans...

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time...

...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 as perennial as the grass...

Take kindly the counsel of the years...

...do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness...

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here...

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be...

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world..."

I am grateful to be here.