These are the lessons I would learn, <br />Not how to climb above all men, <br />Not how the greatest sums to earn, <br />Not how to wield a master pen; <br />But I would learn how I can be <br />A little kinder than before, <br />How I can live more patiently <br />And help my friends a little more. <br /> <br />And I would learn to better show <br />My gratitude for favors had, <br />To see more of the good below <br />And less of what I think is bad. <br />To live not always in the day <br />To come, and count the joys to be, <br />But to remember, as I stray, <br />The past and what it brought to me. <br /> <br />To judge my life, not from today, <br />Nor what tomorrow it may mean, <br />But from each footstep of the way <br />And from each pleasure that has been, <br />Remembering in each present woe <br />The love and laughter I have known; <br />And to be grateful as I go, <br />For joys that once I called my own. <br /> <br />These are lessons I would learn: <br />To be as brave in grief and care <br />As I am when it is my turn <br />To tread the road where all is fair. <br />More grateful I would learn to be <br />For what has been, as on I tread, <br />And to press forward cheerfully. <br />Content to face what lies ahead.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/real-lessons/
