Perspective on Leaking Water Pipes

BETTER THAN GOLD

Better than grandeur,
better than gold,

Than rank and titles a thousandfold,

Is a healthy body and a mind at ease,

And simple pleasures that always please.

A heart that can feel for another's woe,

And share his joys with a genial glow;

With sympathies large enough to enfold

All men as brothers, is better than gold.

Better than gold is a conscience clear,

Though toiling for bread in a humble sphere,

Doubly blessed with content and health,

Untried by the lusts and cares of wealth,

Lowly living and lofty thought

Adorn and ennoble the poor man's cot;

For mind and morals in nature's plan
Are the genuine test of an earnest man.


Better than gold is a peaceful home

Where all the fireside characters come,

The shrine of love, the heaven of life,

Hallowed by mother, or sister, or wife,

However humble the home may be,

Or tried with sorrow by heaven's decree,

The blessings that never were bought and sold,

And the center there, are better than gold.

- Abram J. Ryan

I have been looking for a poem the last few days, to have something to replace the water problem thoughts that have been popping into my head. It was a toss up between this one and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's "Worthwhile". Anyway, the point is, it is so much better for the soul, and consequently the mood, to focus on the good things of life rather than the trials, however insignificant they might be. (A water pipe, is in the "stuff" category of life- relationships, health and stuff - in that order)