The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Invitation
It doesn't interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream
of meeting
your heart's longing.


It doesn't interest me
how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.


It doesn't interest me
what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched
the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear
of further pain!

I want to know
if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own,
without moving
to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy,
mine or your own;
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy
fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful,
be realistic,
or to remember
the limitations
of being human.

It doesn't interest me
if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

I want to know
if you can be faithful
and therefore
be trustworthy.

I want to know
if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life
from G-d's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,
yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done
for the children.

It doesn't interest me
who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me
where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else
falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone with
yourself,
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I got this in an email last year...kind of sums it up for me.....