explore my optimistic world

Never read of a poem as inspiring as the one written by Max Ehrmann—the Desiderata. As one starts to scribble on this, he could not resist but to go on until he will end up grasping the idea the author wants to express.

This significant poem simply tells us that life should be lived wisely. Everyone knows that life is only given once, a rare opportunity for a person to enjoy how wonderful it is to be with people, to see the beauty of all creations, to feel how it is to be loved by others, to experience happiness, sadness, and all the obstacles before achieving the stage of contentment and fulfillment.

The poem provides a lot of lessons in life. One stanza tells us that everyone should be treated equally regardless of age and status, but should not get too close for they might abuse your kindness. Another important message there is the comparing of one’s self to others. As much as possible, we should avoid it because as said by a German dictator, Adolf Hitler, “comparing your self to others is the greatest insult you’ve done in your whole life.”

On the fourth line, we are told that the world is slippery and full of trickery that is why, we should be careful on what to say and how to act because there are many ears listening and eyes watching over us, while the seventh stanza teaches us to make God the center of our lives. But above all, the best lesson I learned from the poem is being who we are and not striving to be anyone else.

Every time we read this, we are reminded that everyone is created differently so we should be thankful to what is given to us—the intelligence, ability to sympathize others, to feel what a human being should experience, to have the freedom to enjoy life despite what others may say.

Aside from that, let Desiderata remind us of the reality that life is not perfect. Human as we are who from the start were not born perfectly, we commit mistakes, we easily fall into temptations, we entertain actions which are sometimes unacceptable in the eyes of the society, we show our weakness, we are capable of hurting others, and many times, we forget the important things we need for ourselves.

As said in the poem, ‘it is still a beautiful world,’ ergo, let us live life to the fullest without doubts and regrets. We can never have the same life we aspire to have for the second chance, so while we have this, let us utilize and give the best that we can for others and for ourselves.