Choosing Beauty - A Poem by Donald Francis Micallef

(Photo by Donald Francis Micallef)

We can choose how we want to be and we are entirely free to decide how we want to respond to our world

We can choose to be negatively static or positively dynamic

We can choose to be kind appreciative and loving

Or we can choose to be angry resentful and cruel

We can choose to only see the shadowy side of things allowing ourselves to be dulled of sense awareness

Or we can come out into the sunlight and experience illumination

We can choose to be spiritually suffocated By our own inner fears of impermanence

Or we can be courageous choosing liberation through transformation

Choosing beauty is yours to glean It is your birthright It lingers within you Like a seed waiting to come to fruition

And it is easier than you could ever imagine because beauty is everywhere all you need do is pay attention

You can hear it in the sounds of children's voices you can see it in a thousand different faces you can smell it in the air after a rainstorm

you can choose beauty anytime you like any place you like for as long as you like You can choose beauty whenever your willing to focus the light of your consciousness in the direction of what is radiant and pure Whenever you’re willing to follow the Mantra of your own breath

Jesus once said, “the kingdom of God is all around us but men do not see it”

You simply need to choose to see it

Mother Teresa While on the streets of Calcutta Looked into the eyes of a dying leper boy and saw the face of Christ

St. Francis Recognised divine spirit in animals and they recognised it in him and he shared sermons with birds

Rumi Danced as a dervish In the middle of the thoroughfare To the rhythm of a black smith's hammer and transformed the world

Hotei Recited profound Dharma while he stood on street corners amused children like a clown and was often seen Playing with stray dogs in the ally way

Like the Buddha you can sit under the Bodhi tree touch the earth as your witness and choose beauty

He tells us, "When ever you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky! "