Someone who I greatly respect shared this poem with me and I felt that I should pass it along to you.  When we talk about the values that shape our decision making processes, we ask ourselves questions as part of the process.  I invite you to ask yourself some of these questions when you think about the impact that you want to have in the world.

Thank you Hugo Bonjean for sharing your story with me!

The Invitation:

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 like 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, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

 

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;

If you can bear the accusations of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

 

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

 

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day,

And if you can source your life from God's 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 for the children.

 

It doesn't interest me who you are, 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 interest 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.

 

And while the powerful poem of life on earth is written we all may contribute a verse …What will your verse be?  …I hope it will be truly magnificent!