a poem for balance

to appreciate the blessing of balance

We are, often, called to place our attention on so much that may not deserve the gift. Or, perhaps, the gift is learning the value of our attention.

Still, we get to choose— courageously, curiously— what will awaken our senses to the most intimate call of life. She lights our way, whispers through the wind, opens the plumeria and roses, and sometimes sends the gentle hands of a friend to hold us.

Then, we remember how we belong. To life. To one another. Regardless of any reason you can conjure to suggest otherwise. Our togetherness is the balance we share.

This poem, from John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us, reminds us how we might give our awareness wisely, always in awe, toward the hints life scatters around us.

Hints of… ?

Exactly.

For Equilibrium 
 
Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all it names.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the depths the laughter of God.

— John O’Donohue

You belong in this world, my friend. Thank you for being here with me.