I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting
your hearts 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 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 center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed for fear of further pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own
If you can dance with the wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusations of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty everyday,
And if you can source your life from God's presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a 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 a night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone
And do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center ofthe 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.
-Oriah Mountain Dreamer-