Desiderata

By Max Ehrmann

One of the earliest material that inspired me.Helped me accept who I am and how I can live a pretty happy life in our current situation and realities.

Heres a virtual movie of the American poet Max Ehrmann reading his exquisite inspirational poem "Desiderata" (From the Latin: " Desired things", plural of desideratum).The poem is read definitively by the brilliantly talented youtuber David Buchalter a PhD student at the University of Arizona. He focuses on Medieval and Early Modern English literature, especially in Chaucer and Shakespeare,and has a very fine voice for reciting poetry.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and 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 the dull and 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 and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your 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 this not 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 critical 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 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 with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

© Max Ehrmann 1927

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Life is Art

 by Jim Rohn

( This post shows how remarkable Jim Rohn's wisdom is. He was able to transform some of the most complex ideas and make it easily understood by ordinary men like us. About accumulation of wealth and living life analogy with life and art is simply genius. My take away is the getting rich is an exact science while living a wonderful life is like coming up with a painting on a blank canvass...it is up to you and that's the beauty of it. Now, live a remarkable life! Would want to see the masterpiece that you will make of it! )

In my years teaching people to be successful, I have seen that basically people break their lives down into two major parts: wealth- building and the rest of their lives. Having done a lot of reflection on these two topics—wealth and life—I am coming to some new conclusions about how to perceive the two.

Until recently I thought that there was a significant difference in how we should tackle the two areas. In fact, I thought that the two topics should be addressed in almost opposite fashion.

You see, wealth-building is just math. While life—Life is art.

Think back with me to high school. Most of us were required to take math and most of us probably took art as well.

Now, think about your final exams in the two areas. Your math paper was graded on hard facts:

Ten times ten is always one-hundred.

Thirty divided by three is always ten.

Seven plus seven is always fourteen.

Fifty minus twenty-five is always twenty-five.

   

There is always just one answer in math. The answers are hard fact, set in stone. Math is a science. It is formulaic. You can know the outcome before it happens, every time.

But what about your final art project? Art is much more subjective. "Beauty," they say, "is in the eye of the beholder." There is no one right answer.

Think of the different styles of the famous artists:

Renoir. Monet. Picasso. Rockwell. Warhol.

Different people find different styles beautiful, and that is what makes art, art.

So how does this fit with wealth-building and life? Wealth-building is like math:

If you add $1,000 to your retirement account each month and gain 7 percent interest over 20 years, you can know now how much you will have then. It is math. If you buy a rental property for $200,000 now and it increases in value by 3 percent a year, you know exactly how much you will be able to sell it for in 10 years. The beauty of math is in the knowing. You can work the system, set it on auto-pilot and the math does the work for you, and you know the outcome.

But life? Life is art. And that is the beauty of life. You do not know how it is going to turn out. Life, like art, is always changing. Different people provide different colors. When you make a mistake, you can go back, erase it or even paint right over it. You can change the scenery. Life, like art, is ever evolving, and what looks good to one person is of no interest to another. And that is what makes life beautiful.

Another lesson I think we can draw is that in life we should do our math, of course, but life isn't made up of just wealth-building. Wealth-building should serve our ability to live our lives. Jesus, the master teacher, said that our lives are not made up of the abundance of our possessions. He didn't mean that possessions aren't good, just that wealth isn't what life is all about.

So let me ask you: Are you spending more time on your math or your art? Do your math. Everybody should do their very best at their wealth-building plan so they can take care of themselves and their families. 

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