You are a Child of the Universe....

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the 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 to 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 interested 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 not this 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 as 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.

Max Ehrmann, 1927

Historical Postnote:Max Ehrmann (1872–1945), inspired by an urge that Ehrmann wrote about in his diary: "I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift-- a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods."Conventional belief is that Ehrmann actually wrote the prose himself and copyrighted it in 1927.
Around 1959, the Rev. Frederick Kates, rector of Saint Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of devotional materials he compiled for his congregation. At the top of the handout was the notation: "Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore 1692."
In the 1960s, it was widely circulated without attribution to Ehrmann, sometimes with the claim that it was found in Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore, Maryland, and that it had been written in 1692 (the year of the founding of Saint Paul's). This created a lot of confusion about the prose poem for many, many years.
Nevertheless, the estate of Max Ehrmann has kept various editions of the work in print. And the family is considered to own the copyright to the poem now known as Desiderata.

Watch: a lovely You-tube version, set to the music of Paul Schwartz. 

Photo above from my post:

*Making a Quilted Book or Fabric Journal Cover

*As my 'Frugal Friday' freebie, I offer introspection and gratitude. Always available to any one willing to accept it, always free, and always a gift.