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I’m not one for poetry

I enjoy it sometimes, slam poetry can be amazing, but I don’t know a lot about poetry itself.  My paternal grandmother (Granny) wrote poetry but I guess that’s just not what I’m interested in writing.  That being said, there is a commercial out right now (for iPads I think) that quotes some verse written by Walt Whitman.  I was so intrigued by the verse I had to look the poem up online.  It reads as follows:

O ME! O Life!… of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.

I just LOVE this!

How often do we get caught up in the trappings of our lives, grinding on through the days and weeks of monotony?  We wake, we work, we eat, we sleep.  We set our dreams aside; our passions taking a backseat to financial responsibility or to what other people think we should be doing.  We lose ourselves in our own existence.  We dream of what could be different but hold ourselves back from realizing that difference.

Is this really all there is to living?  NO – there is so much more to life than to just simply live.  Everything we do or say can have an impact in some way, shape or form on someone or something else.  It may not happen immediately, it may take several ripples on the pond for the change to be felt, but it’s there.  What kind of effect do you want to have on the people around you?  Are you worried that you won’t make any difference at all?

We are all here for a purpose, as God intended.  Every step, every decision we make takes us down a path to making a difference somewhere.  Paying it forward makes a difference.  Helping someone pick up dropped papers makes a difference.  Taking someone a meal, smiling at a stranger, saying good morning to a neighbor – it ALL matters – because you are here and WHO YOU ARE MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

That life exists, and identity;

That the powerful play goes on

and you will contribute a verse