Sunny Sundays – The Invitation

Hello Everyone, 

Welcome to the first edition of Sunny Sundays. As I mentioned a few days ago, the sun can’t shine every Sunday (not unlike today), so I’d like to bring you a little sunshine in the form of something inspirational. It could be in the form of pictures, an excerpt from a song or book, or it might be about somebody doing something I find inspiring.  Perhaps something that will get you thinking differently than usual. The post will oftentimes be unrelated to food, but you can think of it as food for your soul!  As I said before, being healthy is about much more than just what we put in our bodies. Oftentimes our thoughts are major determinants of our overall health as well. 

To start things off, today I’d like to share something with you that came to me about 3 years ago when I was undergoing my studies at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition. As part of the core curriculum we had to complete a course on professional presentation.  One of the projects in the course was to get up in front of the class and read an excerpt or poem that touched or inspired us in some way. One of my classmates read the following poem that I’m going to share with you now. For some reason this piece just moved me so profoundly that it’s stuck with me ever since. I think it serves as a reminder of how little we really connect with people underneath surface pleasantries. 

Here you go… 

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 dream, 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, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. 

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are 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; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. 

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence. 

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the 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 to feed the children. 

It doesn’t interest me who you know or 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. 

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer 

Hope this gets you thinking a little.

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And on a final note, here’s a pretty pic to leave you with.  I took this in 2005 during a backpacking trip. 

Luang Prabang, Laos