Arrogant Joe

Joe was a man who had everything in life
He didn’t see anyone else or bother about their strife.
He had everything he wanted, was handsome, wealthy and proud
And he never had a dime for a beggar in the crowd.

He went to bed one night saying :I am the great Joe!”
But when he woke up the next morning, then began all his woes.
He jumped out of bed, tangled by his feet
Coz now he saw his toes would only turn to meet

Joe stumbled towards the mirror and was shocked at what he found,
His hands had stretched and now reached the ground!
His face turned red and then green,
But finally to a colour he’d never seen.

He ran from the mirror and jumped in his car.
But the doctor had been at an all night bar.
“Hey Doc”, said Joe, “What do you think?”
Doc answered, “I believe I’ve had too much to drink!”

As night fell, with sores on his hands and feet
He thought how mean he had been to everyone else on his street.
Joe closed his eyes and prayed for the hundredth time
And here ends this weird and wacky rhyme!

Joe woke up from the dream, thanked God for another normal day
Grabbed his trusty briefcase and went on his way
But now the world he saw with different eyes.
He saw the poverty, the hurt and those who needed a simple hi.

Sunshine is not so hard to throw your neighbour’s way…
Show some compassion or even just a smile as you go on with your day!

When I Grow Up...

If you were put on centre stage…. spotlight beaming, caressing you and blinding you at the same time…. subject to vulnerability to a crowd of yourself at various stages of your life…. what do you think they would do? How would they look at you? What would they say? Essentially how would you judge yourself? Are you where you wanted to be? Are you who you want to be? Are you the person you strove to become? If you’re not sure, have you asked yourself these questions?

I was thinking of how I was at different ages of my life…what made me happy, what made me scared and what I wanted to be. If you ask children what they want to be when they grow up it’s always either, a doctor, policeman, firefighter, teacher, nurse, etc. Now how many of them actually grow to be what they wanted? Ah, now there’s something to think about…

You see, the one commonality between these professions is that they all wanted to help, serve other people! As children we wanted to be the best we could, wanted to feel good by somehow contributing to society, making others feel better, helping the world. Somewhere along the way we lose ourselves. Call it circumstances, call its influence, call it indulgence, but we lose the person we are on the inside and ‘create’ someone else on the outside. If you think of it, we are all the same as we were when we were 10, just with more education and skills. Because though life seemed confusing as a child, it’s even more terrifying as an adult…that’s why it’s all the more important to listen to your heart, dance like nobody’s watching, and laugh like you did without an inhibitions. It’s never too late to grow to be the child you wanted to be…