Newly found Poetry........

I have been told by my Dr. over the last few months that I need to reduce my level of stress and as anyone living in the Bay Area and working in High Tech that is not an easy thing to do. So for 2008 my goal is keeping healthy and fit in both spirit, mind and body. I am still recovering from my silly fall on the Wednesday before Christmas and with the wet weather I have not had a chance to get out on my bike but I did start on something to keep my spirit and mind less stressed. On Thursday night I went to a free introduction to a "Mindfulness Stress Reduction Class" at our local hospital.

At the start of the class the teacher quoted some poetry that I really enjoyed:

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice-

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do-

determined to save

the only life you could save.

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Be at peace with your own soul,
Then heaven and earth will be at peace with you.
Enter eagerly into the treasure
house that is within you,
And you will see the things that are in heaven;
For there is but one single entry to them both.
The ladder that leads to the Kingdom in hidden within your soul...
Dive into yourself and
in your soul you will discover
The stairs by which to ascend.

– Saint Isaac of Nineveh

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

by Portia Nelson

I

I walk down the street. 

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk 

I fall in. 

I am lost ... I am helpless. 

It isn't my fault. 

It takes me forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street. 

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 

I pretend I don't see it. 

I fall in again. 

I can't believe I am in the same place 

but, it isn't my fault. 

It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street. 

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 

I see it is there. 

I still fall in ... it's a habit. 

my eyes are open 

I know where I am. 

It is my fault. 

I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street. 

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 

I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

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I am looking forward to going back to start the eight week class next Thursday and I wonder will I be filled with peace and tranquility by March 13th!