Love

When I see my friends as mirrors and let myself sink into whichever emotion awakens in me, I feel love. Simply love.
I found this poem on the internet a long time ago, and I have tried to find out more about the author, but there is not much.
So I'll just quote the beautiful poem here.

Love


I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.


I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.


I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find


I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.


Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

          I love you
          Because you have done
          More than any creed
          Could have done
          To make me good.
          And more than any fate
          Could have done
          To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.

You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

by Roy Croft

Expectations

Sometimes I catch myself expecting a lot from others.

That can be bad of course, but I find it even worse when I expect too much from myself.
Sometimes there is a constant critical voice in my head: 'Do this, do that, remember to..., you must finish,,,, how can you.... etc, etc.'... and although I try to keep up, I do need the voice to be quiet!!

It can be quite overwhelming to look around the house and see how many places need a gentle touch. And realizing that there are only 24 hours and a certain amount of energy available in a day.

Luckily I have learned a lot of ways to quiet down the voice.
I can replace it with a more gentle voice telling me to relax, to enjoy life, it's ok not to be busy all the time, it's ok to see friends, even in my cluttered house.
So I survive, and I keep up the good spirits.

But I also need to deal with my expectations to others.
I ask myself: If I send an sms or a mail to someone, can I expect to get a fast answer?
Yes, of course, I can expect anything.

Do I always get a fast answer?
No, of course not.

The issue is not, that I do not get a fast answer.
It is more about dealing with the fact that we have different needs, different timing and different opinions about when to do what. Respect.

Being a person who have always tried to be available, run faster, do better and smarter and so on and on, I am about to learn to expect less from myself.  And from others.

Wish me luck!