The Paradoxical Commandments was an inspiring poem written by Kent M. Keith back in 1968 when he was still an undergraduate. Interestingly, a similar poem was found hanging on the wall of Mother Teresa‘s children’s home in Calcutta, India. Dr. Kent had brilliantly brought a reality in the real world that we live in and challenge us to still choose to love, to do good, to succeed, to be honest and frank, to help and to give the world the best anyway.
As the saying goes, “Do unto others what we want others to do unto us.” I am a strong believer in the simple words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” The change in the world must first come through the change in myself and it will go on to inspire others to change.
Some may remark that we would be in the losing ends as there are people who would take advantage of us when we are kind to them, which I totally agree. We cannot always control how others will treat us, yet we have control in how we choose to treat others and that is all that mattered; self mastery is a bigger challenge in most people and if we can master ourselves, we can be of better service to others and to the world. I hope that you will be inspired by the poem and can join me in this challenge to “live the Paradoxical Life and face the worst in the world with the best in yourself“, quoting the words from The Commandments Website.
The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
What a bold statement, “You can be whatever you want to be!” When I was reflecting on that a while ago in the toilet … yes, I do a lot of reflecting and thinking in the toilet. Don’t ask me why, I know it is not a good habit. But hey! I’m making good use of my time. Sorry, I digressed a little. While reflecting on that, the skeptical mind in me spoke out softly, “Yeah right, what if I want to be like superman?” Thus, I thought to myself, yes, we can be whatever we want to be – provided it must be something logical. Then my other voice spoke to me, “If I want to be like superman, then find the way to defy gravity so that I can fly like him or to find a way to become strong like him! The easier options for flying are to take the plane or to go sky-diving or paragliding.” The latter, like sky-diving or paragliding should give me a pretty close experience to ‘flying’.
The former of finding a way to defy gravity or to be as strong as him, would probably take up a whole life time and I might not even come close to it. The next question is, “Do I really want to be like superman?” I realised that as much as I want to be like him, I am not willing to spend my whole life researching for ways to defy gravity or for ways to be as strong as him. The purpose of my life is not to be like superman either. For you who is reading this now, maybe you have an even crazier idea and it seems not possible to be what you want to be, the question you may want to ask yourself is, “Are you prepared to find all ways to be that person?” Just as what Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until its done.” If you are, then go ahead!
So yes! I believe we can be whatever we want to be! I believe that each of us has the potential within us to be what we want to be. Believing is the part about “We can” achieve what we want to be. The next step is to follow through with what we believe with massive action. The question is, “Are we ready to go all out and give everything we have, may have or will have in our pursue? Fortunately, not all have to go to this extreme in their pursue and they do have the support of loved ones around them in the pursue to be whatever they want to be. This latter part about taking action is the deserving part. Do we deserve it?
A strong believe, and may I add on a strong ‘faith’, coupled with massive actions and we may wake up one morning, just as described in this poem below, to find that we are the person we dreamed of; doing what we wanted to do, simply because we had the courage to believe in our potential and to hold on to our dreams.
_______________________________ You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be!
by Donna Levine
There is inside you
All of the potential
To be whatever you want to be;
All of the energy
To do whatever you want to do.
Imagine yourself as you would like to be,
Doing what you want to do,
And each day, take one step
Towards your dream.
And though at times it may seem too
difficult to continue,
Hold on to your dream.
One morning you will awake to find
That you are the person you dreamed of,
Doing what you wanted to do,
Simply because you had the courage
To believe in your potential
And to hold on to your dream.
________________________________
Photo by hummel_12
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 centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled 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 is 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 at 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 centre 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.
Based on a true story … I hope the video below will inspire you as much as it has inspired me!
5 Taiwanese, average age 81
One has hearing problem
One has cancer
Three have heart disease
Everyone has degenerative arthritis
6 months of preparation
Travelling for 13 days around Taiwan
1139 kilometers
From north to south
From night to day
For one Simple reason
What do we live for?
Dream
For ordinary people with extraordinary dream!
Dream Rangers
TC Bank, Taiwan
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan
Creative Director: Jennifer Hu
Copywriter: Jennifer Hu, Justin Chia
Art director: Leah Chen
Producer: Abby Ku
Director: Thanonchai
———————————-
3 day trial on “Match.com” until August 22, 2011.
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The Paradoxical Commandments was an inspiring poem written by Kent M. Keith back in 1968 when he was still an undergraduate. Interestingly, a similar poem was found hanging on the wall of Mother Teresa‘s children’s home in Calcutta, India. Dr. Kent had brilliantly brought a reality in the real world that we live in and challenge us to still choose to love, to do good, to succeed, to be honest and frank, to help and to give the world the best anyway.
What a bold statement, “You can be whatever you want to be!” When I was reflecting on that a while ago in the toilet … yes, I do a lot of reflecting and thinking in the toilet. Don’t ask me why, I know it is not a good habit. But hey! I’m making good use of my time. Sorry, I digressed a little. While reflecting on that, the skeptical mind in me spoke out softly, “Yeah right, what if I want to be like superman?” Thus, I thought to myself, yes, we can be whatever we want to be – provided it must be something logical. Then my other voice spoke to me, “If I want to be like superman, then find the way to defy gravity so that I can fly like him or to find a way to become strong like him! The easier options for flying are to take the plane or to go sky-diving or paragliding.” The latter, like sky-diving or paragliding should give me a pretty close experience to ‘flying’.
The Invitation