Indian Poet Kalidasa’s word are as applicable today as 4,500 years ago!
Today is truly a gift. So often we take our days for granted yet for a few of us, it will unexpectedly be our last. Why not treat it like it will be your best – something really special? And while you’re at it, look around and see what you can learn and appreciate.
Below is a poem that was penned by an Indian poet Kalidasa some 4,500 years ago and worth reading at the beginning of every day.
* * * * *
Look well to this one day:
For it and it alone is life.
In the brief course of this one day
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of achievement,
Are but experiences of time.
Remember that yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision.
Yet today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this one day;
For it and it alone is life.
Kalidasa
* * * * *
When you integrate this awareness and recognition into your life, your life transforms and fear dissipates. When you kick this awareness into action, magic can happen.
Interestingly Kalidasa was actually considered to be one of the stupidest people in the kingdom when he was young. He was often ridiculed for his lack of intelligence. This left him so dejected that he considered taking his own life.
One day, while contemplating how he would take his own life, he came to a river and noticed some women washing clothes. He observed that some of the stones that the woman where using to wash clothes had become very smooth over time even though they originally had rough surfaces simply by the rubbing by the soft clothes. It dawned on him that if hard rocks could be worn and change their shape by the ongoing washing of soft clothes, then perhaps his slow brain would change and develop by being washed with knowledge!
This one simple observation changed his life. He immediately began studying, and it worked. In time, his reputation completely changed and he became universally revered for his great wisdom not only in his time, but literally thousands of years later. The other lesson for us may be that no matter what your station is in life or what others believe of us, it’s never too late to finish strong.
