|
About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
|
Daily Cascade #1087556 added April 19, 2025 at 12:27pm
Restrictions: None
Feet in the Right Place...
Prompt:
“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” —Abraham Lincoln
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” —Dalai Lama;
Let these quotes inspire your entry today.
------------
Ahha! I agree with Abraham Lincoln. Try putting your feet, even only one foot in the wrong place, and see what happens, especially in old age when your stance isn't steady. In 2016, I broke a vertebra--L4, to be exact--which eventually healed, thanks to the orthopedist. So now, I'm very careful with where I step and how I step. Mind you that I am using the word "step" literally and metaphorically.
As to the Dalai Lama's quote, sorry, but I don't think so, even though I totally respect this great man's optimism and spirituality. I said I don't agree with this quote because--for a very long time, now--I have been suspecting that we were put on this planet so to test our mettle. And I bet no one feels deliriously happy while taking a test.
Picture this: Bombs are all over the place and raining down on you and everyone, and all your loved ones are dead while you are barely alive. How deliriously happy are you, in a situation like this? If you think you can be happy under such circumstances, I would advise you to seek psychiatric help.
I don't think the One who put us on this planet wants us to be crazily happy all the time; however, we may be allowed to taste happiness in short spurts or maybe for a few years or so, as a grace. Then, I think, we are here to experience different things and to watch ourselves as to how we act within those experiences. So the resulting awareness will show us who or what we really are. In other words, we are here to get to know our own selves.
As for me, for to help my mood (i. e. happiness), when things go haywire, I tell myself, "This, too, shall pass!" Then, when any rotten stuff is over, I usually don't feel too great either, especially after the death of someone close. So, even "This, too, shall pass" can and does become only a temporary Band-Aid.
So what's the key to staying alive and feeling somewhat okay without falling into deep depression when things go wrong and they don't seem to get better in the near (or far) future?
I guess, each one of us will have to answer that question in their own way. For me, though, the answer is to get through any difficult moment as calmly as I possibly can, do the best with everything I do, keep very busy so rotten ideas and feelings do not crowd my mind, and always try to learn something new, which in my case, is a new language, usually. This may be because I always loved words, especially when they are written well.
Keeping my mind busy helps avoid a lot of trouble, so it doesn't keep on yacking and bringing up old stuff or stinky future possibilities. As Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor, said: “You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
|
© Copyright 2025 Joy (UN: joycag at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Joy has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
