January 11, 2015

SOMETIMES

Sometimes we have to step back,

to see there is a person right in front of us.

Sometimes we have to climb mountains

to see the plains.

Sometimes we have to listen,

before we can hear what we’re not hearing.

Sometimes we have to see we are lost

in order to realize we need to be found.

Sometimes we have to teach

before we can learn.

Sometimes we have to know we don’t know,

to honestly admit we really don’t know.

Sometimes we miss the distant

because we’re looking at the tiny in front of us.

Sometimes we only see and feel the hurt

another tells us about

Sometimes we miss the moment

because we’re stuck in the past or the imagined future.

Sometimes we have to sin

In order to understand another.

Sometimes we think we’re the only one on the planet – 

and we think,  the only one feeling what we’re feeling –

that is, till we talk to one another –

what we’re talking to ourselves about all day long.

Sometimes the empty barrel makes the most noise;

sometimes the barrel full of hurts makes even more noise.

Sometimes the full barrel can’t be lifted,

but it can be emptied.

Sometimes we have to hurt in order to feel

that others hurt

Sometimes we have to be in the desert

in order to appreciate water.

Sometimes we have to say “No!”

before we understand the meaning of “Yes!”

Sometimes you have to be bald

to appreciate when we had hair.

Sometimes the tooth ache lets us know,

we didn’t take care of our teeth.

1. © Andy Costello, Reflections 2014