I found this piece of prose at http://dailyinspirationblog.com. It’s from Walt Whitman.
I want to give a shout out to The Alchemist. I don’t know if he’s the author of the this blog or not. Had a hard time figuring it out but wanted to make sure I give credit where credit is due. I didn’t “re-blog” because this poem IS the re-blog.
I put in bold the parts that really spoke to me. I find most of this so true. I also indicated the one phrase I don’t necessarily agree with, just so you know
This is what you shall do:
Love the earth and sun and the animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, (I think we have to be careful not to enable anyone, but that we should give freely, I certainly do agree.)
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labors to others,
Hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
Have patience and indulgence toward the people,
Take off your hat to nothing known or unknown,
Or to any man or number of men,
Go freely with powerful uneducated persons,
And with the young and with the mothers of families,
Read these leaves in the open air,
Every season of every year of your life,
Reexamine all you have been told,
At school at church or in any book,
Dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
And your very flesh shall be a great poem,
And have the richest fluency not only in its words,
But in the silent lines of its lips and face,
And between the lashes of your eyes,
And in every motion and joint of your body.
