expect nothing

Just another stunning sunset in Boracay. June, 2011.

Been thinking a lot about the Bhagavad Gita, which--yoga geek that I am--am apt to doing when faced with everyday challenges. This poem by Alice Walker reminds me of it today, particularly the part about not being so attached to the fruits of one's actions, finding that balance between the desire of being and expectations of living and peeling away the layers to get to "the tiny human midget".

To living frugally on surprise...



Expect Nothing

Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why
So tiny human midget
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.

By Alice Walker