09/09/2013

A BIRTHDAY GIFT

Yes, today it's my birthday and all I want is to forget about it. It makes me quite melancholic (or I'd better say sad?)  It is not any birthday,  it is a turning point in life and that's quite scary, you know. I don't feel like celebrating,  I feel more like escaping. Something I can't do, though.  I must stay here and face the ugly truth.
Anyway,  I have just found something which can console me a bit:  a  poem.  I'll  consider it the perfect gift arrived at just the right time.
A quote  from it has just been posted by a blogger I follow on tumblr.  I googled the name of the poet and found the whole poem. I like it, it touches my heart just in the place which hurts.   Thanks a lot for this beautiful gift, darling unaware blogger. 

YOUTH by Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life—it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper of the will; a quality of the imagination; a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a tempermental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over a life of ease. This often exists in a man of fifty, more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart a love of wonder; the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and thoughts; the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what comes next, and the joy in the game of life.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station. So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, grandeur, courage, and power from the earth, from men and from the Infinite—so long are you young. When the wires are all down and the central places of your heart are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then are you grown old, indeed!

19 comments:

Sophia Rose said...

I love that poem. Great find!

Best wishes even if you don't feel like celebrating right now.

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday! I have to say that you summed up everything I felt in this post when it was my birthday (coincidentally it being yesterday). I didn't feel like celebrating either.
Like you said, turning a year older symbolizes another turning point in life and like you, my immediate reaction to that is wanting to escape!
Thank you for the poem, it really does help me remember that one can stay young in mind and spirit and age cannot be properly reflected by a number!

Trudy said...

You're one year wiser and more beautiful. The poem is absolutely true. Keep your spirit intact and you can stay young at heart. Here's to more grace and fulfillment in the things that really matter in the year ahead. :)

Mulubinba said...

Happy Birthday Maria!!!! I empathise with the wish to forget birthdays. Thanks for posting the lovely poem :)

dstoutholcomb said...

Happy Birthday!!! I've been enjoying your blog for a few months--it is a great joy to read it!

Mystica said...

All the very best even though you don't want to celebrate!

Onemorelurker said...

Beautiful poem!

I agree with Trudy, there are ups and downs but take the ups: one more year you could share with family and friends, one more year you were part of your students world and probably gained a space in their memories and hearts.

Big hug to you!
OML :)

Lúthien84 said...

Happy Birthday, MG. Even though you don't feel like celebrating, I wish you joy always.

Maria Grazia said...

Thanks a lot to all for your beautiful messages and birthday wishes! :-)
I'm coping, I'm better, I'm alive and kicking. Don't worry for me and my moody mood. It's a matter of ... age? ;-)

lunarossa said...

Bellissima poesia e ancora augurissimi! Come sai, io a questo 'traguardo' sono arrivata prima di te ma non fa molta differenza da un giorno all'altro. Spero che tu stia trascorrendo una bella giornata! Bacioni A.xx

Violet said...

Happy birthday, Maria Grazia!

Just found your clips on Vimeo and watched several, esp. Miss Marie Lloyd is a treat, as it's new to me (believe it or not).

JaneGS said...

Happy birthday! You may not feel like celebrating, but the poem you have chosen as your gift to yourself says otherwise. This is a poem of the celebration of the spirit.

Take care and thanks for sharing this beautiful, which is new to me, but will become a treasure.

Servetus said...

[Belated] happy birthday -- when you're ready to celebrate, you will. Meanwhile, congratulations.

Maria Grazia said...

Belated but really appreciated, Servetus. :-) Thank you so much!

Maria Grazia said...

And thanks to lunarossa, Violet and Jane GS, for being visiting and commenting on a very special day!

Collar City Brownstone said...

Happy Birthday Maria Grazia!!! Your birthday is exactly one month after mine. I happily celebrate mine every year. Cheer up, I am sure that there is much to celebrate on your special day.

Gratiana Lovelace said...

Great poem! I wholeheartedly agree! Hoping you had a wonderful birthday! Hugs!

CDoart said...

Sorry for coming so late this year with my wishes and congratulations. I hope you had a wonderful day and celebrated (at least) a week long.
I wish you all the best, health, happiness, fun and lots of joy with RA and RA fandom !!!

Maria Grazia said...

Thank you very much, Collar City Brownstone, Gratiana Lovelace and C. Doart for your wishes. Much appreciated :-)