Poems and Literature about CHOICE

Poems and Literature about CHOICE

“I choose to live by choice, not by chance,
To be motivated , not manipulated,
To be useful, not used,
To make changes, not excuses,
To excel, not compete.
I choose self-esteem, not self pity.
I choose to listen to my inner voice,
Not to listen to the random opinions of others.
Author Unknown

 

A Better Me
By Jojoba Mansell

I strive to find a better me,
a person just and true.
I want to live and not just be,
to be decent through and through.

I need to be a stronger me,
both in body and in soul.
It's not a whim, it needs to be,
for me to feel whole.

I will be that better me,
and that better me will stay.
I will be better, they'll see,
it's time to seize the day!

 

Dreams
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
The Challenge
by Jim Rohn

Let others lead small lives,
But not you.
Let others argue over small things,
But not you.
Let others cry over small hurts,
But not you.
Let others leave their future
In someone else’s hands,
But not you.

 

The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 
And sorry I could not travel both 
And be one traveler, long I stood 
And looked down one as far as I could 
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 
And having perhaps the better claim, 
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 
Though as for that the passing there 
Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 
In leaves no step had trodden black. 
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 
I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has made all the difference.

THE ARMFUL
By Robert Frost

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at. once
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with~ hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.
                                     

 

Plain Old Oyster
Author Unknown

There once was an oyster, whose story I’ll tell
Who found that some sand, had gotten into his shell
It was only a grain, but gave him great pain
For oysters have feelings, although they are plain
Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate
That had brought him to such a deplorable state?
“No”, he said to himself, “Since I cannot remove it”,
I’ll lie in my shell, and think how to improve it”,
The years rolled around, as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny …. stew.
Now the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow,
This tale has a morale, for isn’t it grand,
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
Think…what could we do, if we’d only begin,
With some of the things that get under our skin.

 

What is Success?
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

 

 

Hard Choices
By Jojoba Mansell

A path is laid out ahead,
It forks before your feet.
A decision filled with dread,
Uncertain of what you’ll meet.

A game full of chance,
Of many hidden pit falls.
To find true romance,
Dare you risk losing all?

Choices never easy to make,
Fog seems to cloud your way.
You fear making a mistake,
Of gambling and losing the day.

But life is full of Hard Choices,
And risk is part of the game.
Be brave, ignore doubting voices,
Make the choice, life won’t be the same.