Be grateful it's not raining

Many friends say of life: "It is what it is."

Be grateful it's not raining

The conflict of how great and terrible the world is all at once

How there is more than you could ever hope to see or experience

When people say there's so much to do in life they're usually not referring to 

getting caught in the rain, or paying bills, getting in a car accident and needing your right leg amputated below the knee, especially not if it happened to you

What they mean is that in order to be considered to live a life worth living

You'd better make stories no-one really wants to hear but hates when you've none to tell, of love and of giving

Start skydiving, marathon running, visit every country that you can't afford to see, and shoot for the stars

Spend time forgetting what you did with strangers and old friends in strange cities, darkened bars

You feel better about yourself when you know you've got something to say

Or when you're making your own path, thinking "I did the right thing today"

As time passes you see that every way you went rules out another path you could have taken

When you're older and doors close, options cease, and your soul is shaken

You'd better just be glad it wasn't a whole lot worse, it really could have been

You have your own things others won't have done, things they may not have seen

It's so easy to spend your life, frittering, lounging in the sun complaining

But if it shines too brightly in your eyes, be grateful that it isn't raining

Reviews

[Neville]

How very true. Wise words & all wrapped up in a little poem for all the world to see....

[apennylate]

Start skydiving, running, and visiting every darn thing you could want to visit... This made me want to get out and appreciate the day... No worse for wear, just take that shining dare... Considerately penned...

[Great Aunt Astri]

The slightly jerky and uneven feel to this poem ..is deliberate, isn't it? It certainly gets across your message. Your Soul may be shaken but your wonderful poem is one I really enjoyed!

[Alex Ware]

Yep, it's the uncertain musings of a life lived so far :) thanks for the kind words

[Maya]

Very philosophical, indeed. Reminds be a bit of Heidegger's Being and Time - "every way you went rules out another path you could have taken". True. But also I appreciate the attempt to look at the glass half-full, no matter how disillusioned the hero of this poem.