It is I Who Must Begin- by Vaclav Havel

I read this poem today and it touched me deeply. It was as if written for me.

For it is I who must begin and persist, without grand speeches and ostentatious gestures. It is I who must listen to the voice and live in harmony with it. There are no excuses. It would not be easier anywhere else or any other time. Courage and honesty- both have to come from me. Whether all is really lost or not depends entirely on whether or not I am lost. 

It is I Who Must Begin

It is I who must begin.

Once I begin, once I try --

here and now,

right where I am,

not excusing myself

by saying things

would be easier elsewhere,

without grand speeches and

ostentatious gestures,

but all the more persistently

-- to live in harmony

with the "voice of Being," as I

understand it within myself

-- as soon as I begin that,

I suddenly discover,

to my surprise, that

I am neither the only one,

nor the first,

nor the most important one

to have set out

upon that road.

Whether all is really lost

or not depends entirely on

whether or not I am lost.