bring clouds or azure, joy or tears;

already a full cup I’ve quaffed;

already wept and love and laughed,

and seen, in ever-endless ways,

new beauties overwhelm the days.

Life Owes me nought. No pain that waits

can steal the wealth from memory’s gates;

No aftermath of anguish slow

can quench the soul fire’s early glow.

I breathe, exulting, each new breath,

Embracing Life, Ignoring Death.

Life owes me nothing, One clear morn

Is boon enough for being born;

and be it ninety years or ten,

No need for me to question when.

While Life is mine, I’ll find it good,

and greet each hour with gratitude.” -Author Unknown

In a world where we are often taught a sense of entitlement, it is when we learn we are entitled to nothing that we become free from disappointment and regret and truly open to joy and gratitude. Life may owe us nothing, but that shouldn’t keep us from trying to get everything out of it that we can. We need to “embrace life” and “greet each hour with gratitude.” When we find a place in our selves in which we can feel blessed by everything, it is in this place where we find the meaning of life. In the midst of tragic times it is the strength it teaches and the way love comes pouring in from every corner that keeps us grateful. In the midst of joyful times it is the humility, which allows us to see that joy as a gift not to be taken for granted that gives us cause for thanks.

We are all rich in blessings. Life owes us nothing, but rather we owe everything to life and must live it as fully as we can.