Friday, November 12, 2010

Die Slowly


He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,  
dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones i's rather than a bundle of emotions,
the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
dies slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.

He or she who abandons a project before starting it,
who fails to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know,
he or she who doesn't reply when they are asked something they do know,
dies slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead  to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

Pablo Neruda

10 comments:

Toyin O. said...

Very nice and insightful poem.

Keiichi said...

Oh, Great poem!
I won't die slowly.
I will get a splendid happy.

Scorchfield said...

Remember me this movie: Il Postino, great movie.

And "dies slowly" is like: killing me softly ...

Wonderful this poem: "Die Slowly" by Pablo Neruda

Cheqna said...

Sometimes its "frightening" to be out of the comfort zone, but if we don't venture out, we won't find the beauty of living.

:-)

lina@women's perspectives said...

Very inspiring and enhancing :)

Toyin O. said...

I hope you are having a good day;just wanted to thank you for your visit and gracious comment. Have a blessed week:)

fazrul arhan said...

A great reminder in a beautiful way Ana. And i don't want to die slowly in a matter of what u have said,haha..thanks!

Anonymous said...

very nice
Thank you very much for reminding me ana, and thanks for visiting on my blog, I felt very happy also sorry if my english language skills not so good

meysha said...

nice words...
luv it...
may happiness will always be with us

Primomel said...

this is a beautiful piece from pablo neruda, Maam. i cant help but reflect on the message of the poem and reevaluate my life in contrast with it =)