Category Archives: Poetry

Living Without Regret

The question of what impact do I want my life to have today and in the future often occurs to me. When I ask myself this question it allows me to check back in on whether I’m living purposely in that day or not. The above video is a great  reminder of living with this spirit.

I find there is the potential otherwise to waste  time on things that may become of far  lesser importance when were to look back on them. In this way I can aim to be living in each moment and there for those who are around me. In essence it is a sense of coming from a point of what really matters most and then living from there.

In the below guardian article titled the 5 regrets of the dying, Bronnie Ware an Australian nurse documented the top 5 regrets of patients in their last days. The top 5 she recorded were;

1.) I wish I had the courage to live true to myself not to what others expected of me.

2.) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard

3.) I wish I had the courage to express my feelings

4.) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends

5.) I wish I had let myself be happier

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying/print

Knowing these regrets of the dying can really get us to reflect on living a full life where we do not waste our time on things that ultimately don’t matter so much. For all of us it can be slightly different in what we perceive to be most valuable, asking the question what will we want to leave behind is a really good way to understand these, what will be and is most important now? Is it money, the people in your life, the experiences you have? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind. By  knowing the answer to these questions  we can then proceed to live as much of our days from these values. Some questions I find good for reflecting on this are;

  • How do you want to be remembered?
  • What do you want to leave behind?
  • How can you create the most value today?

If we live from this place in every moment we can be sure to be on purpose, living without regret and knowing  we’ve made the most difference possible with our lives ❤

Live from the  heart

Live from the heart in all you do

Live  from the heart as though everyday could be your last

Valuing all that matters most

Knowing you do your best in all you pursue

Most of all know you wasted nothing,

That in every moment you gave your everything

~ M. L Adams

Without hold

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It’s not the love that causes the pain,
It’s the expectations that we lay
It’s the thoughts we put upon another
The dreams that we expect them to cover,
Yet real love holds no boundaries such as this;
It is only a state of pureness
As free and open as the sky,
Accepting in all as it is

~ M.L.Adams

Where you go from here

We can choose in any moment
To hold on or let go,
To give or to take;
Or to allow in defeat

We can choose in any moment,
Which way we want to go
In how to turn something around,
In what to say and what to sow

It is these choices now,
That give the power that we have
The way to shape our life from here,
A way to always come back

So no matter what, when or where,
You always have a choice in your hands,
Do you focus and move forward,
Or give in and fall back?

~ M.L Adams

To Fly

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To fly here; free as a bird
I let go
In the open sky
It’s right here; I just glow

To be here and now,
Without hold,
To let go completely
In freedom; as one

With all openness
Right here and now
I do fly, I let go
Just to be here, to flow; without time

~ M.L Adams

Success

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

How you see it

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No matter what you do,
Or where you go
It’s how you see it,
That creates the flow
The flow of love,
Of life and joy
It’s how you see it
That matters from now on
~ M. L Adams

The Ability to Transform Anything

transformation

There is always something we can learn from any situation, however tough it might be, in fact the tougher it is the more I believe we can learn and transform from it. As long as we’re open to all there is to learn the gifts then have the potential to be endless. This year has been a particularly challenging one for me personally, however I know always that everything can be turned around and that every difficulty has an equally, if not greater benefit.

Sometimes things happen that are entirely out of our control or at least at first, things that go entirely against what we have planned or expected, however we always have a choice in how to respond. This  I believe to be the greatest power we have, the ability to choose, to choose what we will focus on, on what we can do, on the difference we can make; this is what enables us to transform anything.

Any of you who has been through a difficult situation and allowed it to strengthen you instead of weaken you will know and understand this power that you have. At first in any situation it is natural to feel challenged, this is where we then have the choice to change our perception and this is where we can take our power back and transform the situation.

Whatever happens in our environment or from others towards us, may not be of our choosing but our response, when we are conscious of it, always is. As long as we remember to use this knowledge when and wherever possible, we will have the power to overcome anything and turn what was difficult in to something beautiful. The following poem is written from this purpose;

Opportunity

Every difficulty can be an opportunity,

Every struggle can be a strength,

It is what you choose to focus on

That will really get you through anything

To a place where you thought you would never be,

To a place where your more than you’ve ever been

~ M. L Adams

Much of my poetry is written from this belief of the possibility to transform any situation in to something positive no matter what happens. This is  a knowing I have had for as long as I can remember and one that has strengthened throughout my Buddhist practice over the last 7 years.

No matter how dark or difficult something may seem it will always hold within it something really powerful for your life. Seek to turn it around, to transform the situation and you can only become far wiser and stronger from it. ❤

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