Myself
I have to
live with myself, and so,
I want to be fit for myself to know.
I want to be able as days go by
always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand with the setting sun
and hate myself for the things I have done.
I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
a lot of secrets about myself,
and fool myself as I come and go
into thinking nobody else will know
The kind of person I really am;
I don't want to dress myself up in sham.
I want to go out with my head erect
I want to deserve all men's respect;
but here in the struggle for fame and pelf,
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to look at myself and know that
I am bluster and bluff and empty show.
I never can hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself - and so,
whatever happens, I want to be
self-respecting and conscience free.
~Edgar Albert Guest~
You are a
child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing
enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about
you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
~Nelson Mandella~
"As
Time
Goes By" is used with permission
and copyrighted © by Bruce
DeBoer
Page revised March 2008