Meaningful Poem

Finding Life's Meaning

This is what I've decided life is about. At an older age now, I think a great deal about what life is for.

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I teach in an urban district where I have a first-hand look at life from a different perspective. I teach seniors who are getting ready to go into a world where they are thought to be NOT as...

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What Life Should Be

Patricia A Fleming © more by Patricia A Fleming

Published by Family Friend Poems February 2018 with permission of the author.

To learn while still a child
What this life is meant to be.
To know it goes beyond myself,
It's so much more than me.

To overcome the tragedies,
To survive the hardest times.
To face those moments filled with pain,
And still manage to be kind.

To fight for those who can't themselves,
To always share my light.
With those who wander in the dark,
To love with all my might.

To still stand up with courage,
Though standing on my own.
To still get up and face each day,
Even when I feel alone.

To try to understand the ones
That no one cares to know.
And make them feel some value
When the world has let them go.

To be an anchor, strong and true,
That person loyal to the end.
To be a constant source of hope
To my family and my friends.

To live a life of decency,
To share my heart and soul.
To always say I'm sorry
When I've harmed both friend and foe.

To be proud of whom I've tried to be,
And this life I chose to live.
To make the most of every day
By giving all I have to give.

To me that's what this life should be,
To me that's what it's for.
To take what God has given me
And make it so much more

To live a life that matters,
To be someone of great worth.
To love and be loved in return
And make my mark on Earth.

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ABOUT THE POET:

I was raised in Trenton, NJ, the middle of three children in an Irish American family. I always enjoyed writing from my early childhood and over the years, I kept journals with poems I wrote. At the age of 16, I discovered my Calling when I went Christmas caroling at the local psychiatric hospital. After graduating from the College of New...

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more by Patricia A Fleming

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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
  • Jeanny Oliveira by Jeanny Oliveira
  • 1 year ago

Thank you, Pat! I'm really touched by your poem and the way you make us think about how we can live our lives, being simple but meaningful - it's incredible. I used to write poems when I was a teenager and I thought I've lost that gift along the way, but your art made me realize that we can always try again to connect with what makes us human and kind, and I can still use my love for words and art to touch someone else's heart and life too. I found your poem through research about an exercise I'm doing to improve my English skills ("Memorize a poem that speaks to you"), and I'm definitely memorizing your poem to take it forever with me. You are amazing, thank you again!

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  • Deana Obst by Deana Obst
  • 1 year ago

This poem is what my soul struggled to do but couldn't put into words. I intend to follow these words, and I believe you have captured God's desire for us as well. Goodness can trump evil and that would change a struggling world. God bless you
Deana Obst

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A wonderful poem you've written, Patricia. Everything we should aim to be is clearly defined in this amazing poetry.
Beryl Edmonds

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  • Sarah Savage by Sarah Savage
  • 2 years ago

I have been asked to read "What life should be" at my friend's funeral tomorrow. She was only 60 and lost her fight with cancer so graciously last month. She loved poetry and writing it too, and this poem sums her up so well. Always fighting for the underdog and those less fortunate. We will all miss her free spirit so much, but we have some great memories, and she will live on in our hearts.

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  • Rose Dean by Rose Dean
  • 2 years ago

Hi Pat.
Thank you so much for your beautiful poem. I read it at my Auntie Carol's funeral today. She was an uncommonly kind lady who lived as your poem described. Your words helped me and my family take inspiration from her life and start to move on, despite our sadness.
Thank you.

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  • Ogbe Etaba-Royal by Ogbe Etaba-Royal
  • 2 years ago

Beautifully written poem.
I'm really touched reading this poem after taking a long gaze at the Stars searching for which to speak to.
Amazingly, you just spoke to me through this.
As humans we feel often to act revengeful in many ways. It only takes a good conscience to love and be considerate while in this stroll through life.
I hope and pray that I leave positive marks behind.
I'm really uplifted by this poem.
Thank you Pat!

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  • Ursula Augustine by Ursula Augustine
  • 2 years ago

Hi Ms. Pat,
Simply BEAUTIFUL. I'm adding this to my "read at my funeral" list. (Hopefully no time soon.)

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  • Corella Wehe by Corella Wehe
  • 2 years ago

I heard this poem on the Giant Foods ad, and it touched my heart. I recently lost my husband of 65 years and he loved this poem. Always kind, always helpful. Loved and was loved in return.

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  • Martha Verde by Martha Verde
  • 2 years ago

I teach in an urban district where I have a first-hand look at life from a different perspective. I teach seniors who are getting ready to go into a world where they are thought to be NOT as good, unprepared, and basically overlooked. I spend each day showing them kindness, giving them support, and loving them for who they are. They are not perfect, but they have so much to offer. When they use their time and their talents, great things happen. They make a difference.

One of my students printed out this poem for me for Christmas. The card said "This poem reminds me of you every time I hear it. Word for word it totally describes you. Thank you for loving us unconditionally." I cry every time I read this poem. I am so grateful that I get to witness miracles every day as my kids make their mark in the world.

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  • NOXOLO by NOXOLO
  • 1 year ago

Hi Pat,
Your poem is really amazing. We must live to be loved. I am an educator too and learners must learn more from us.

Martha,
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely story with me. What a wonderful gift your student gave you, and you must be an incredible human being to receive something so heartfelt. I am so pleased that your student felt my poem was worthy of presenting to you as a gift and so touched that each time you read it, you can feel so appreciated. You have made my day!

  • Reny Amalia by Reny Amalia
  • 3 years ago

I was just looking for some poems for my task. I couldn’t believe that I found this wonderful poem. It really inspired me to be a good human being. I really loved the amazing words. Thanks a lot to the great writer.

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  • Callie Maddox by Callie Maddox
  • 3 years ago

This poem has really touched me. I am only a 14-year-old girl, but this poem means a lot to me. It has inspired me to be a better person and to be more kind and to not worry so much. I should let God take the wheel and just be positive and enjoy the life I have been given. I love your work. :)

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Callie,
Thank you. It is so sweet of you to take the time to read my work and be so kind in your words. It is such a tribute to my work that you can feel it touched you in a way to affect the way you live your life. I just know how special you are, and I'm sure God is immensely proud of who you are! You really uplifted me with your words. Thank you, sweetheart!

  • Esther Gonzalez by Esther Gonzalez
  • 3 years ago

Pat, I wanted to know what emotions you were feeling when writing this poem.

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Hello Esther,
I think when I wrote this poem I needed to remind myself what life really is supposed to be. It's so easy to get lost and discouraged in life but then one little moment, a smile exchanged, a call from a friend, a touch when you're sad, can change your heart completely and make you realize that it's all very simple really. It's so easy to make it complicated for ourselves, when all we have to do is live a life of love and understanding and everything else falls into place. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my poem and ask such an important question. It means a lot to me.

  • Abdlateef J. Olawale by Abdlateef J. Olawale
  • 3 years ago

Wow!!!! This is awesome. You are naturally gifted, and I wish to read more of your poems so I can learn from you!!!

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  • Amanda Pullan by Amanda Pullan
  • 3 years ago

I appreciate your poem. I feel blessed that you have shared your gift.

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  • Joshua Edwards by Joshua Edwards
  • 4 years ago

This poem has significantly changed the perspective of my life and how I view it. It has inspired me to be the one who changes the world. As I scroll through the poems, I read and just savor the goodness and the thought that you put into your masterpieces. I thank you for all you have bestowed on behalf of your amazing poems. I really hope and pray that you will continue to write such uplifting and life-changing poems. You have really set the stage for me to achieve my future endeavors. I was also reading your biography, and I saw that you were a social worker. My mom is a social worker and I would love to impart on the behalf of the children I mentor. I can't thank you enough for what you how much you have written for everyone to see! Thank you!!

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My Dear Joshua,
You have touched me so deeply with your beyond kind words. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to know that my poems can make a difference in another person's life. I struggle every day with life and knowing the right thing to do and then having the courage to do it. I have lived 66 years and the one lesson I learned that I try to live by is to be kind and compassionate, even when the pressure is to be angry and judgmental. I was a social worker like your Mom for 36 years working with psychiatric patients, and those were the most important and rewarding years of my life. You sound like an incredible person, and I know that you will make a huge difference in this world and change many people's lives for the better, and how wonderful of you that you choose to live that way! I am so proud of you and honored that you took the time to read my poem and give me such support and love. You are wonderful!!!

  • Paul J. O'Brien by Paul J. O'Brien
  • 5 years ago

Wonderful words beautifully expressed and written.
If only this could be taught in schools, the world would not be smitten
With monstrous acts of tragedy and destruction.
To be replaced with poems of love and life's instruction.

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  • Sylvia Sellars by Sylvia Sellars
  • 5 years ago

Today I read this poem, and it really touched my heart. It's the way I've tried to live my life. I sincerely hope that others take guidance from these words. I am at the "older end of life." I look back at how I have treated others and take pride in knowing that I always gave as much as I could and stood up for what I believed to be right and would, if possible, try to make a difference for someone else.

Never forget that the person you pass may not have spoken to anyone else for days. Loneliness is something you cannot see, and that individual that you smile at today will feel their spirits raise up inside simply because someone cared enough to look their way. Live your life. Love your life, but most of all, love your fellow humankind. The world would be a much happier place without loneliness.

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Dear Sylvia,
You beautiful words were like a poem in themselves. I could not have said it better. You are wonderful!

  • Abhi Desai by Abhi Desai
  • 5 years ago

I was very, very touched by this body of work. This inspired me to be a better person and have a good heart. I was crying a lot for weeks and weeks after figuring out the true meaning of this poem.

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You have so honored me by taking the time to read my poem and share that you've gotten so much from it. That is everything I could have hoped for. I wish you great blessings in your life.

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