Poem of Living

Without time there is no life.
So my life’s story begins with
     the creation of time in our universe.
Why should I bother starting my story at the beginning of time?
     There was no life when time started.
     There were no humans until billions of years later.
     Perspective on the true reality is why.
We humans are very late arrivals to this reality.
We are insignificant in our universe
     by any measure
     except as measured by our own ego.
How can we not be humble?

I came to be because humans came to be. 
But first our sun came to be. 
Then our planet came to be. 
An atmosphere grew and clung to our earth.
Oceans, continents, mountains, and rivers formed.
By some miracle, living cells came to be. 
Then over billions of years all plants and animals evolved.     
Humans were among those animals. 
I was born along with billions of other humans. 
When we look back through time with our telescopes
We find there are billions of galaxies in the universe,
And billions of stars in each of those galaxies,
And billions of planets orbiting those stars.
And yet, there is only one me.
Does this make me special?
No, it makes me a very small part of a very large reality.
I do not stand alone.
I only exist because all of the rest of the universe exists.
Every part of me was created in the stars.
Nothing I am made of is unique.
The DNA in my body is that of my ancestors, not mine alone.
I am constructed of non-me parts.
These parts are changing all the time.
     Old cells die.
     New cells are born.
I exist only as a part of the universe.

In the beginning I was ignorant.
I was cared for, nurtured and taught by my mother and father. 
Then I was taught by my teachers and contemporaries.
Somewhere I learned not to believe everything I was told.
I learned that true knowledge comes from     
     Comparing what I was taught to my own experience.
     Using my own rational mind
     Using my own emotional mind 
     Using my own curiosity and imagination.
     And understanding that my best teacher is the world that I live in.
I will never stop learning. 

So what have I learned during my life?

Very early in my life I learned something about love.
At first, I was the object of my parents love.
Then I learned to love my parents back.
As I grew I learned to love others,
     My siblings,
     My friends,
     My Loved One,
     My children and grandchildren
I learned to love my unselfish self.
And my unselfish self learned to give love unconditionally,
Which allowed me to have
     love and compassion for my fellow beings
     and all living things.
And I am still learning to  love.

The application of knowledge to create new things is what propels me forward. 
To give something new that I have created
     by applying myself to what I have received
     justifies my existence
     and gives me great joy!

As I have aged I have learned that  
     I have obligations beyond myself. 
One of those obligations is 
     to teach what I have learned to others 
     as they teach what they have learned to me. 
Give and receive. 
Receive and give. 

So every day I must
     Love
     Learn
     Create
     Teach