Isn't this poem beautiful?
from: To Bless the Space Between Us
by John O'Donohue
Blessed be the mind that dreamed the day
The blueprint of your life
Would begin to glow on earth,
Illuminating all the faces and voices
That would arrive to invite
Your soul to growth.
Praised be your father and mother,
Who loved you before you were,
And trusted to call you here
With no idea who you would be.
Blessed be those who have loved you
Into becoming who you were meant to be,
Blessed be those who have crossed your life
With dark gifts of hurt and loss
That have helped to school your mind
In the art of disappointment.
When desolation surrounded you,
Blessed be those who looked for you
And found you, their kind hands
Urgent to open a blue window
In the gray wall formed around you.
Blessed be the gifts you never notice,
Your health, eyes to behold the world,
Thoughts to countenance the unknown,
Memory to harvest vanished days,
Your heart to feel the world's waves,
Your breath to breathe the nourishment
Of distance made intimate by earth.
On this echoing-day of your birth,
May you open the gift of solitude
In order to receive your soul;
Enter the generosity of silence
To hear your hidden heart;
Know the serenity of stillness
To be enfolded anew
By the miracle of your being.
I am uncertain how Karen finds the right words in the right moment, but I suspect it is because she follows the well worn words "You have two eyes, and two ears, but only one mouth. This is so because you are supposed to look and listen more than you talk."
Perhaps she has listened when I spoke. Perhaps she knows that throughout my life I've always felt there was no point living in fear. From an early age I learned life was a series of obstacles that would challenge me and I would need to overcome them with strength and love. I did not let fear be my guide on this journey, but allowed love to lead. Today I am blessed by those who have loved me, crossed my path, surrounded me and kindled my heart with hope.