Oh they run every day,

I should be like that,

they swim,

and they swim outdoors,

I should be like that,

they do yoga,

the meditate,

they paint beautiful scenes…

I should be like that,

if I could be like that,

maybe I will learn,

they’ve lost 3 stone,

I should definitely be like that,

they are so careful with the environment,

reusing, reducing, recycling,

I should be like that..

I could live better, work better,

move better, be better,

I should be…..

+

In the midst of the “shoulds ” I stop….

I stop them becoming oughts ( for they are close),

and I remember that

I AM ME!

I am not them, or them, or any of the ones I so admire…

I do my daily round of tai-chi, and I walk as much as I can,

I swim, though not regularly now,

I love photography,

I love the sea,

and I paint abstracts

sometimes with gold leaf,

it is okay to be me!

+

and yes there are things I would like to do,

but I pray that these would be desires,

not oughts or shoulds,

I am free, just to be me!