#102
Along the lines of leaving a place better than you found it, I give you a poem by José Martí.
The place in this poem could be named conflict. Always leave a conflict better than you found it. Which is quite different from the way we’re used to thinking about conflict; always leave a conflict as the victor.
Think about your conflicts now — with your spouse, your kids, another driver, a co-worker, a neighbor — and bring in the concept of leaving the conflict better than you found it. It changes things, doesn’t it?
Think about conflicts in the past and imagine how different they would have turned out if you’d had the mindset to always leave a conflict better than you found it.
I Cultivate a White Rose
By José Martí
I cultivate a white rose
In July as in January
For the sincere friend
Who gives me his hand honestly.
And for the cruel person who tears out
the heart with which I live,
I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns:
I cultivate a white rose.
Since I’m studying Spanish, you also get the poem in it’s original language. I didn’t, nor could I, do the translation.
Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca
Por José Martí
Cultivo una rosa blanca
En julio como en enero,
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca.
Y para el cruel que me arranca
El coraózn con que vivo,
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo,
Cultivo una rosa blanca.