It Is Still A Beautiful World

 

    "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world" is a line taken from one of my favorite poems, Desiderata. It was written in 1927 by a lawyer, businessman, and poet named Max Ehrmann (1872-1945). This beautiful literary work is filled with the timeless wisdom you need to achieve greatness. It gives me pleasure to share it with you now because "Bad Thought Therapy" strives to help you discover the silver lining behind life's dark clouds.

    What we become, say, and do begins with what is in our heads. The good news is that we have the power to control which thoughts dominate our minds and which ones to listen to and follow. Therefore, it is critical to "think" about the message we can salvage from a "mess"; the opportunities in the obstacles; the treasures in the trouble; and the purpose in the pain.

    Each human being is born with the valuable gift and superpower of choice. It is up to an individual to choose good over bad and right instead of wrong despite whatever he or she might experience. With love, I encourage you to decide in your heart and mind to live and not merely exist. Once good thoughts are tattooed in your brain, everything you need for your journey will manifest itself in amazing ways.

I hope you enjoy Ehrmann's poem as much as I have over the years. (See below)

Peace and blessings!

C. Chérie Hardy

Copyright 2021 by C. Chérie Hardy

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1927)

"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 to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious 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 own 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 cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to 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 dark 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 in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."