Good question. (If I do say so myself!)
Something a bit different for my last post of the year...I'll share a poem that doesn't rhyme, as well as one that does, all in the course of telling you about the year I decided to make my horoscope come true.
I started out 2011 feeling flat - not depressed, but stuck in my routines and frustrated with myself. The last day of 2010 I read my horoscope, which as usual promised great things. (Who would bother reading them if they didn't?) Anyhow, my horoscope foretold such great things for the year to come that I had to read what was in the cards for my boys (both Libras) and Todd (an Aries). Apparently great things were forecast for all of us, so I snipped out our horoscopes for the year and stuck them to the fridge.
I read that Aquarius forecast several times over the first few months. It talked at length about trying new things and freeing myself of old attitudes that weren't serving me well. It made sense to me to try to make those predictions come true, so rather than set a ton of resolutions I decided to use those predictions as the basis of making change. It may sound crazy, but it worked.
I consider myself a woman with faith, but sadly my faith in myself has been compromised most of my life. This past year I plugged my nose (as I've never been good at holding my breath) and I dove into a few projects that I never would have had sufficient faith to follow through with before. I gave myself the year I needed to have, primarily because I had enough faith in myself to follow the stars that were there to guide me.
I'm still no believer in horoscopes, unless they're used as I chose to use mine. We choose where fate leads us, based on our faith in ourselves, and our faith in a higher power. For many of us, a belief in God inspires us to act in positive ways, for others it is the power of love. For true "believers" the two should be inseparably connected.
This poem was one of the first I ever wrote. I was twenty years old, and thought I had all the answers.
Sharon's Star: (By Sharon A. Flood - May 1982)
My sister wrote a poem about herself.
She said she had a dream
and saw a star that beckoned.
(She woke and it was gone.)
I see stars in waking hours.
They try to chart my course -
I will not follow.
I don't look to the heavens to see
where I should go.
I look at the ground - my footprints
show me where I've been.
It isn't enough to know
what not to do, where not to return.
If I would lift my gaze -
look up and forward -
I would recognize my guiding star
and follow it to the Son.
Now, at the ripe old age of almost fifty, I can easily admit that I most definitely do not have all the answers. I'm getting good at identifying the problems (in my life and in the world as a whole), and I do believe that having faith in ourselves and in those "higher powers" that I previously mentioned can move us all forward as we gain the courage to follow the stars that are there to lead us all onward and upward.
The second poem I'm sharing might seem grim. Society does seem to be slipping, but each of us can do our part to lay down a little sand. We are here to live, to learn and to make every day better than the last in some small way. Who's up for the challenge? Happy New Year to all of my friends and family. I love you all and look forward to another year of learning from whatever life hands me.
And of course, I leave you at the close of the year with one last poetic thought...
Humanity (By Sharon Flood Kasenberg - April 2010)
The human condition
so broad and complex
has infinite power to baffle and vex.
There's no comprehending
the choices we make -
the creeds that we live by;
the vows we forsake.
The things that most want are
illusions at best -
and thanks for what's given
is seldom expressed.
We're searching for wealth and
perpetual youth -
and claim to seek wisdom,
but hide from the truth.
Our confidence wavers,
our manners are crude -
and most of us harbor
a bad attitude.
Compassion is lacking -
what's not understood
is too often labeled
as being no good.
We're all armed for battle
and itching to fight -
and egos convince us
our cause must be right.
Surrounded by plenty,
desires still taunt -
not too many of us
are sure what we want.
The answers may reach us,
if question we dare -
most grow apathetic -
too jaded to care.
Faith offers us answers
we choose to resist...
God wants all to live
but we mostly exist.
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