#13 - Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. Dale Carnegie

SUCCESS REDEFINED

In the inexperienced days of youth,
I dreamed of being a success.
Endless acclaim and untold dollars to do my bidding
would fill my life with endless joy.

But the years slipped away, as years will do.
Those dreams, unfulfilled, remained dormant.
No cover of People Magazine ever bore my image.
No associate of Oprah ever begged me for an appearance.

And yet, my achievements are many.
I try to treat everyone the way I’d like to be treated.
I give what I can to those in need though my coffers are low.
I have friends I care about deeply who respond in kind.
I have a family I cherish, a home in which to find refuge,
a love who stands beside me, enriching my spirit,
a God who walks with me, enriching my soul.

Financial prosperity might lessen the burdens.
Fame may have rewards, but carries its own stress.
Without the blessings of joy in the simplest of pleasures,
no one is truly successful.

#12 - Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. Robert Frost

THE MOOD

Happy, sad, mellow.
The mood doesn’t really matter.
What matters is how the mood
relates to what it creates.

#11 - Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. Marsha Norman

REFRESHED ASPIRATIONS

The budding of the trees,
and the scent of this renewing season
bring me out from my cocoon.
I arise from winter’s slumber
to face a myriad of possibilities,
of dreams yet to develop
and dreams about to bloom.
From visions formulated
through the opaque moments
of yesterday’s rest,
I am alive with today’s defined purpose
and wander aimlessly no more.

#10 - All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. Henry Ellis

An early prompt this week. Easter weekend company will be here through Tuesday.

TO DOUSE THE INFERNO

The common approach to relationships
is to step away at the first sign of fire.
It's so much easier to move on
than discover what started the blaze.
We’ve seen our share of those flames.
We’ve felt the heat of contempt burn between us.
But years in the careful study of each other
taught us which angers need extinguishing
and which moments of contentment to ignite.