June Cotner - Soar!: Follow Your Dreams

Commencement

After all the late nights pressing words
through your pores, the door of your mind
is still propped open. There is not one final
arrival, no last step that lifts you to the top floor.
But now and then, there is a landing
like this onewhere you can pause
to catch your breath.

Though you cannot see the summit,
plant your muddy boots
and stand against the wind.
Take in the distance youve traveled
then keep climbing.
No one tells a mountain, Your head is in the clouds;
come down to where the rest of us live.
Instead, we carry dreams and prayers
as water to sustain us on the journey.

Though the shoreline also has no end,
walk until the water has swallowed the light.
Let the oceans edge remind you,
you can always reinvent yourself.

Now you begin again, your life an untwisting
of continual beginningsthe way a spider plant,
whose roots have outgrown the pot,
releases a cascade of offspring,
all those green legs reaching for the ground.

Emily Ruth Hazel

The Call

Do you hear it?
Urging you past the portals
of yesterday, something
calls your name, dares you
to step beyond the threshold
of now into tomorrows mystery,
the one only you can solve,
with the magic only you can make
of your one sacred life.

Arlene Gay Levine

Your Calling

Your calling isnt something that somebody can tellyou about. Its what you feel. Its a part of your life force. It is the thing that gives you juice. The thing that you are supposed to do. And nobody can tell you what that is. You know it inside yourself.

Oprah Winfrey

New Directions

All that newfound knowledge bubbling in yourhead. You are ready to enter the world, begin anew job, make your mark in the world. You areintelligent and will make wise choices because youare someone who leads with your heart. You havean open mind and an open heart full of kindnessand consideration. Follow your heart; the rest fallsinto place. Gain strength by appreciating thosearound you. Do not be envious of what others havebecause you are rich in spirit and have much tooffer. Continue to learn, laugh, and discover. Workhard, love what you do, smile often.

Sherri Waas Shunfenthal

Wings

Now you are perched on the edge,
looking down between the branches
at the new grass and the sparkle of the sun
on the water far below,
the river flowing swiftly, on its way
to places you have yet to see.
Trust that when youre ready to let go,
your wings will discover themselves.

Emily Ruth Hazel

Find Yourself

Explore the earth as you now find it.
Solve new mysteries; find the stone.
Crawl to where the sphere turns firmament.
Isolate to know for certain you are not alone.
Touch the wedding of the waters,
See the elements combine.
Read the wordless book of nature
Where the spirits clearly writ.
Make the modern magic thine.
Go, my child, into the world.
Find yourself in knowing it.

Maureen Tolman Flannery

Explore

We have all been placed on this earth to discoverour own path, and we will never be happy if we livesomeone elses idea of life.

James van Praagh

When young people tell me they dont know whatthey want to do with their lives, I explain that theyshould concentrate on finding out about life first.Some people have to try several directions before theyfind the one that is right for them. There is nothingwrong about this.

Dr. Joyce Brothers

The greatest thing in this world is not so much wherewe stand, as in what direction we are moving.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The people who get on in this world are the ones wholook for the circumstances they want, and, if theycant find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

Waiting for You

As you set this new course ahead,
possibilities are boundless
and your future limitless.

No one can stop your momentum
as you take these next steps
into the future your heart is creating.

May the dreams youve kept safe in your heart
keep leading you boldly through life.

How this world has been waiting for YOU!

Anne Calodich Fone

New Experiences Ahead

When traveling
across the
borderline from
the familiar to
the unknown,
an open mind
is the best traveling companion.
Dress for the unpredictable,
as everything is subject to change.
Remember,
when you leave the wilderness of
new experience,
take only what you
learn from it,
and leave only footprints
so others may find the way.

Susan Koefod

Destination

No one knows
where they are going.
We only know
were on a journey
to our own true selves.

Joan Noldechen

Destiny

You may be moved in a direction
You do not understand,
Away from the safe, the familiar,
Toward a vision that is blurry,
Yet still pounds against
The doors of your dreams,
Prays for recognition,
Petitions for understanding,
Whispers for acceptance.
Out toward distant possibilities,
You are propelled by a fire,
You will never fully comprehend,
But cannot extinguish.

Susan Rogers Norton

Go Forth

Go forth in every direction
for the happiness, the harmony,
the welfare of the many.
Offer your heart, the seeds of
your own understanding
like a lamp overturned
and relit again
illuminating the darkness.

The Buddha

Feathers

feathers
I often find
while walking
remind me
I can always
decide to fly

Virginia Barrett

Opportunities

Creativity is Gods gift to you.What you do with it is your gift to God.

Bob Moawad

People will try to tell you that all the greatopportunities have been snapped up. In reality,the world changes every second, blowing newopportunities in all directions, including yours.

Ken Hakuta

Opportunities dont knock at all. They dont haveto, theyre already all around us. Its up to us to seewhere they are and take advantage of them.

Dave Thomas

Small opportunities are often the beginning of greatenterprises.

Demosthenes

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

Art Is Long, Life Is Short

Like the sculptor
who chips away
at what is not
the sculpture,
your life
is in your hands,
the pure
imperfect stone
waiting for its
daily touch,
the gentle tap,
the savored strike
toward mass
and space
that form
the perfect past,
your tribute
to the art
of living.

Charles Ghigna

Passion

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull ofwhat you really love. It will not lead you astray.

Rumi

Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it,listen for what it intends to do with you.

Parker J. Palmer

When you enjoy your life, the lines between work andplay begin to blur. We do what we love and love whatwe do.

John C. Maxwell

There are many things in life that will catch your eye,but only a few things will catch your heart. Pursuethose!