Channeled by Og Mandino
I hear your cry. It passes through the darkness, filters through the clouds, mingles with the Starlight, and finds its way to my heart on the path there was some beam.
I have anguished over the cry of a hare choked in the noose of a snare, a Sparrow tumbled from the nest of its mother, a child thrashing helplessly in a pond, and a son shedding his blood on the cross. Know I hear you, also. Be at peace. Be calm. I bring you relief from your sorrow for I know its cause– and its
cure.
You weep for all your childhood dreams that have vanished with the years. You weep for all your self-esteem that has been corrupted by failure. You weep for all your potential that has been bartered for security. You weep for all your individuality that has been trampled by the mobs. You weep for all your
talent that has been wasted through misuse.
You view yourself with disgrace and turn in terror from the image you see in the pool. Who is this mockery of humanity staring back at you with bloodless eyes of shame?
Where is the grace of your manner, the beauty of your figure, the quickness of your movement, the clarity of your mind, the brilliance of your tongue?
Once you placed your head in a pillow of grass in your father’s field and looked up at a cathedral of clouds and knew that all the gold of Babylon would be yours in time. Once you read many books and wrote on many tablets, convinced beyond any doubt that all the wisdom of Solomon would be equaled and surpassed by you. And the seasons would flow into the years until lo, you would reign supreme in your garden of Eden.
Do you remember who implanted those plans and dreams and seeds of hope within you? You cannot. You have no memory of that moment when first you emerged from your mother’s womb and I placed my hand on your soft brow. And the secret I whispered in your small ear when I bestowed my blessings
upon you. Remember our secret?
The passing years have destroyed your recollection, for they have filled your mind with fear, doubt, anxiety, remorse and hate, and there is no room for joyful memories where these beasts habitat.
Weep no more. I am with you– and this moment is the dividing line of your life. All that has gone before is like unto no more than the time you spent in your mother’s womb. What is past is dead.
Let me share with you, again, the secret you heard at your birth and forgot. You are my greatest miracle. You are the greatest miracle in the world. Those are the first words you ever heard. Then you cried. You did not believe me then…. And nothing has happened in the intervening years to correct your disbelief. For how could you be a miracle when you consider yourself a failure at the most menial of tasks? How can you be a miracle when you have little confidence in dealing with the most trivial of responsibilities? How can you be a miracle when you are shackled by debt and lie awake and torment over whence will come tomorrow’s bread?
You arrived, bringing with you, as does every child, the message that I was not yet discouraged of man. Why have you valued yourself in pennies when you are worth a King’s ransom? Why did you listen to those who demeaned you — and far worse, why did you believe them?
Take counsel. No longer hide your rarity in the dark. Bring it forth. Show the world. Strive not to walk as your brother walks, nor talk as your leader talks, nor labor as do the mediocre. Never do as another. Never imitate. For how do you know that you may not imitate evil; and he who imitates evil always goes beyond the example set, while he who imitates good always falls short. Imitate no one. Be yourself. Show your rarity to the world. You are not mediocre. I gave you the power to choose, and thus you have complete control over your destiny.
Choose to love……………rather than hate.
Choose to laugh………….rather than cry.
Choose to create…………rather than destroy.
Choose to persevere……rather than quit.
Choose to praise………….rather than gossip.
Choose to heal…………….rather than wound.
Choose to give…………….rather than steal.
Choose to act………………rather than procrastinate.
Choose to grow…………..rather than rot.
Choose to pray…………….rather than curse.
Choose to live……………..rather than die.
Be proud. You are not the momentary whim of a careless creator experimenting in the laboratory of life. You are more than a human being; You are a human becoming. We have a world to rebuild… and if it requires a miracle, what is that to us? We are both miracles and now we have each other.
