Poems about a New Beginning

Another Chance by Helen Steiner Rice

A new beginning starts with a deep desire for change. Hope for a new day is an eternal theme in poetry and in life. Without hope, what do we really have?

How often we wish for another chance

To make a fresh beginning.

A chance to blot out our mistakes

And change failure into winning.

It does not take a new day

To make a brand new start,

It only takes a deep desire

To try with all our heart.

To live a little better

And to always be forgiving

And to add a little sunshine

To the world in which we're living.

So never give up in despair

And think that you are through,

For there's always a tomorrow

And the hope of starting new.

Rise Above by Anonymous - New Year's Poem

This can be your year. The road is open wide before you. Are you going to rise above?

The world is full of people,

Content to be what they are

Who never know the joy of success;

They lack the will to go that far.

Yet in this world there is a need,

For some to lead the rest

To rise above the average life,

By giving of their best.

Are you the one who dares,

To try when challenged by the task

To rise to heights you've never dreamed, 

Or is that too much to ask?

This can be your year,

For great purpose to achieve

If you accept the challenge,

And in yourself believe.

A New Day by Anonymous

We never know what life has in store for us. A new day brings new hopes and new dreams.

If life seems at its lowest ebb,

Because a day's gone wrong.

Let not your heart be troubled,

For a new day soon will dawn

And we can never be quite sure,

Just what it has in store.

Since each one is so different,

Than the one just gone before

As it penetrates the darkness,

With its soft and tranquil beams.

It calms even the most restless soul,

And brings new hopes and dreams

So when a days been troubled,

And the night is dark and long.

Lift up your fallen spirits,

For a new day soon will dawn

It Is Your Turn Now by Rumi

I love the new beginnings message of this poem: transform your inner pearl.

It is your turn now,

You waited, you were patient.

The time has come,

For us to polish you.

We will transform your inner pearl

Into a house of fire.

You're a gold mine.

Did you know that,

Hidden in the dirt of the earth?

It is your turn now,

To be placed in fire.

Let us cremate your impurities.

New Year's Quote - T.S. Eliot

For last year's words belong to last year's language,

And next year's words await another voice - 

To make an end is to make a beginning.

Yesterday's Door by Anonymous

Shutting the door on yesterday opens your mind and spirit up for today!

I’ve shut the door on Yesterday,

It's sorrows and mistakes.

I’ve locked within its gloomy walls

Past failures and heartaches.

And now I throw the key away,

To seek another room, 

And furnish it with hope and smiles

And every springtime bloom.

No thought shall enter this Abode

That has a hint of pain;

And envy, malice and distrust

Shall never entrance gain.

I’ve shut the door on Yesterday

And thrown the key away - 

Tomorrow holds no fear for me

Since I have found Today.

This Year Is Yours by Alfred Lord Tennyson

A great poem for New Year's or for anytime you decide to make a fresh start. It's amazing what you can accomplish in a year's time when you really try.

God built and launched thisyear for you;

Upon the bridge you stand;

It's your ship, aye, your own ship,

And you are in command.

Just what the twelve months' trip will do

Rests wholly, solely, friend, with you.

Your logbook kept from day to day

My friend, what will it show?

Have you on your appointed way

Made progress, yes or no?

The log will tell, like guiding star,

The sort of captain that you are.

For weal or woe this year is yours;

Your ship is on life's sea

Your acts, as captain, must decide

Whichever it shall be;

So now in starting on your trip,

Ask God to help you sail your ship.

New Beginnings Quote

This is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life;

this is the beginning of a new book!

   - C. JoyBell

Анна Ахматова - стихи

Все мы бражники здесь, блудницы,

Как невесело вместе нам!

На стенах цветы и птицы

Томятся по облакам.

Ты куришь черную трубку,

Так странен дымок над ней.

Я надела узкую юбку,

Чтоб казаться еще стройней.

Навсегда забиты окошки:

Что там, изморозь или гроза?

На глаза осторожной кошки

Похожи твои глаза.

О, как сердце мое тоскует!

Не смертного ль часа жду?

А та, что сейчас танцует,

Непременно будет в аду.

Frank O'Hara – Having a Coke With You

Having a Coke With you

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Ir;n, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne

or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona

partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian

partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt

partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches

partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary

it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still

as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it

in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth

between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint

you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them

I look

at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world

except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick

which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time

and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism

just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or

at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me

and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them

when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank

or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully

as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience

which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

Birth and death of William Shakespeare celebrate
What do people do?
Special pageants are held at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, where Shakespeare was born and where thousands of tourists go each year to see his plays performed. The bells of Holy Trinity Church ring out and the Mayor of Stratford leads a procession there to lay flowers on Shakespeare’s’ grave. The procession includes bands, civic dignitaries, costumed actors and actresses, Morris dancers, and the staff and pupils of some local schools.
In some schools, regular lessons are set aside for students to learn about the great playwright and poet, and his sonnets, narrative poems and plays. Enthusiasts and fans, including the British Shakespeare Company, have campaigned for Parliament in the United Kingdom to officially recognize national Shakespeare Day.
Public life
Shakespeare’s Birthday is an observance and not a bank holiday in United Kingdom.
Background
No one really knows the exact date of William Shakespeare’s birth, although he was baptized on April 26, 1564, and died on April 23, 1616. Some believe he was born on April 23, although birth dates were generally not recorded in his time. In his younger years Shakespeare attended the Christian Holy Trinity church, the now famous limestone cross-shaped cathedral on the banks of the Avon River in the United Kingdom.
At the age of 18 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. It is believed that he retired in Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
This Bard of Avon has been referred to as a “literary genius” and “Britain’s greatest playwright and poet”. His work includes comedies, such as The Taming of the Shrew and a Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as tragedies such as King Lear, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Much of his work has been seen in modern-day theatre, the ballet and in modern films. His plays have been translated in many different languages across the world.
Shakespeare’s increasing popularity in modern times is reflected by National Shakespeare Day, which started as an idea from Robert J Williamson, the Artistic Director of the British Shakespeare   Company. National Shakespeare Day is supported by many people in the United Kingdom, including government ministers.
Symbols
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 but was later destroyed by fire. A second Globe Theatre was rebuilt on the same site in 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the theatre, “Shakespeare’s Globe”, is currently located in London. It consists of: The Globe Theatre, with a professional theatre company incorporating international artists playing a summer season of plays; Globe Education, which works with students of all ages; and Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition, devoted to Shakespeare and his contemporaries in performance.
Other symbols identified with Shakespeare include: an image of the poet on a postage stamp or on a portrait; and symbols from his plays, such as a rose (Romeo and Juliet), a human skull (Hamlet), and blood, ghosts and witches (Macbeth).

                                 Earth Day

Got big plans for Earth Day? It's right around the corner, April 22, but feel free to celebrate all week long with these 10 great ideas for teaching kids about Earth Day and what they can do to help take care of our planet.

 

1. Serve up eco-snacks. Mix up some trail mix (with raisins, sunflowers, peanuts, almonds, chocolate chips) assemble one of these cute flower-power veggie trays, or whip up a batch of these yummy Earth Day bars.Celebrating the global nature of the ingredients (raisins from California, chocolate from Africa, coconut from the Philippines) is a cute idea, but it's still a good idea to look for locally sourced ingredients whenever possible!

 

2. Make a nature craft. Try your hand at one of these cute nature craft ideas, or get creative and come up with your own eco-masterpieces.  

 

3. Host an Earth Day 5K (or 1K). This may seem like a big endeavor for Earth Day, but don't let it scare you. I've been planning my town's first ever Luray Earth Day 5K on the Greenway, and it's shaping up to be an awesome event. I have to say that I've enjoyed every minute of the planning process. Even if you don't decide to do a big community-wide event, you can still challenge your friends and neighbors to a run or walk in honor of Earth Day. It's the perfect way to get out and enjoy the planet and the day.

 

4. Take a walk. If an organized walk or run is too intimidating, you can still get outdoors for a walk around the block or local park with your own family. Check out these tips for exploring the outdoors  with your kids.

 

5. Pick up a great green read. "The Lorax," "The Omnivore's Dilemma," "Seeds of Change," "The Giving Tree," "An Inconvenient Truth." There are so many great green reads to choose from. Check out MNN's book poststo find an old favorite or a new one to read in honor of Earth Day.

 

6. Plant a garden. Grab the kids, a shovel, and some seeds and hit the dirt with your family. Whether you plant one tomato plant in a pot or a large garden of fruits and veggies, gardening with your kids wil teach them about the cycles of nature and the beauty of growing your own food.

 

7. Watch an eco-flick. Snuggle up on the sofa with your kids and your favorite brand of organic popcorn to watch one of these family friendly eco-movies. In the mood for a sobering documentary? Try a classic like Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" or a newer film like "Lunch Line," "Waiting For Superman," "The Cove" or "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."

 

8. Host an eco-swap. What better way to get rid of your old stuff than to give it to friends who will find another use for it? Gather up your friends and neighbors for a good old community swap where everybody brings a bag or two of stuff (clothes, toys, you name it,) and then goes home with a bag or two of newish items in exchange.

 

9. Recycle. Recycling is a great way for kids to get involved in taking care of the planet. Talk to your kids about the items that wind up in the recycling bin and how they can be recycled into new products. Or you can also check out some of the recycling opportunities available from groups like TerraCycle where you can earn money for your school or community organization by collecting items like candy wrappers or juice pouches so that they can be remade into cool new stuff.

 

10. Bring it home. Earth Day is the perfect day to talk to your kids about the green steps you take around the house to protect the planet and how they can help. Turning off lights and faucets, recycling, keeping the heat and air down low, and cleaning green are great ways to teach your kids about your family's impact on the planet, and the steps that you can all take to minimize it.

World needs our help or What we don't know about Environmental Problems?

Our environment is constantly changing. There is no denying that. However, as our environment changes, so does the need to become increasingly aware of the problems that surround it. With a massive influx of natural disasters, warming and cooling periods, different types of weather patterns and much more, people need to be aware of what types of environmental problems our planet is facing.

Global warming has become an undisputed fact about our current livelihoods; our planet is warming up and we are definitely part of the problem. However, this isn’t the only environmental problem that we should be concerned about. All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging environmental problems every day. Some of them are small and only affect a few ecosystems, but others are drastically changing the landscape of what we already know.

Our planet is poised at the brink of a severe environmental crisis. Current environmental problems make us vulnerable to disasters and tragedies, now and in the future. We are in a state of planetary emergency, with environmental problems piling up high around us. Unless we address the various issues prudently and seriously we are surely doomed for disaster. Current environmental problems require urgent attention.

15 Major Current Environmental Problems

1. Pollution: Pollution of air, water and soil require millions of years to recoup. Industry and motor vehicle exhaust are the number one pollutants. Heavy metals, nitrates and plastic are toxins responsible for pollution. While water pollution is caused by oil spill, acid rain, urban runoff; air pollution is caused by various gases and toxins released by industries and factories and combustion of fossil fuels; soil pollution is majorly caused by industrial waste that deprives soil from essential nutrients.

2. Global Warming: Climate changes like global warming is the result of human practices like emission of Greenhouse gases. Global warming leads to rising temperatures of the oceans and the earth’ surface causing melting of polar ice caps, rise in sea levels and also unnatural patterns of precipitation such as flash floods, excessive snow or desertification.

3. Overpopulation: The population of the planet is reaching unsustainable levels as it faces shortage of resources like water, fuel and food. Population explosion in less developed and developing countries is straining the already scarce resources. Intensive agriculture practiced to produce food damages the environment through use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides. Overpopulation is one of the crucial current environmental problem.

4. Natural Resource Depletion: Natural resource depletion is another crucial current environmental problems. Fossil fuel consumption results in emission of Greenhouse gases, which is responsible for global warming and climate change. Globally, people are taking efforts to shift to renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, biogas and geothermal energy. The cost of installing the infrastructure and maintaining these sources has plummeted in the recent years.

5. Waste Disposal: The over consumption of resources and creation of plastics are creating a global crisis of waste disposal. Developed countries are notorious for producing an excessive amount of waste or garbage and dumping their waste in the oceans and, less developed countries. Nuclear waste disposal has tremendous health hazards associated with it. Plastic, fast food, packaging and cheap electronic wastes threaten the well being of humans. Waste disposal is one of urgent current environmental problem.

6. Climate Change: Climate change is yet another environmental problem that has surfaced in last couple of decades. It occurs due to rise in global warming which occurs due to increase in temperature of atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels and release of harmful gases by industries. Climate change has various harmful effects but not limited to melting of polar ice, change in seasons, occurrence of new diseases, frequent occurrence of floods and change in overall weather scenario.

7. Loss of Biodiversity: Human activity is leading to the extinction of species and habitats and and loss of bio-diversity. Eco systems, which took millions of years to perfect, are in danger when any species population is decimating. Balance of natural processes like pollination is crucial to the survival of the eco-system and human activity threatens the same. Another example is the destruction of coral reefs in the various oceans, which support the rich marine life.

8. Deforestation: Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and produce fresh oxygen as well as helps in regulating temperature and rainfall. At present forests cover 30% of the land but every year tree cover is lost amounting to the country of Panama due to growing population demand for more food, shelter and cloth. Deforestation simply means clearing of green cover and make that land available for residential, industrial or commercial purpose.

9. Ocean Acidification: It is a direct impact of excessive production of CO2. 25% of CO2 produced by humans. The ocean acidity has increased by the last 250 years but by 2100, it may shoot up by 150%. The main impact is on shellfish and plankton in the same way as human osteoporosis.

10. Ozone Layer Depletion: The ozone layer is an invisible layer of protection around the planet that protects us from the sun’s harmful rays. Depletion of the crucial Ozone layer of the atmosphere is attributed to pollution caused by Chlorine and Bromide found in Chloro-floro carbons (CFC’s). Once these toxic gases reach the upper atmosphere, they cause a hole in the ozone layer, the biggest of which is above the Antarctic. The CFC’s are banned in many industries and consumer products. Ozone layer is valuable because it prevents harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth. This is one of the most important current environmental problem.

11. Acid Rain: Acid rain occurs due to the presence of certain pollutants in the atmosphere. Acid rain can be caused due to combustion of fossil fuels or erupting volcanoes or rotting vegetation which release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. Acid rain is a known  environmental problem that can have serious effect on human health, wildlife and aquatic species.

12. Water Pollution: Clean drinking water is becoming a rare commodity. Water is becoming an economic and political issue as the human population fights for this resource. One of the options suggested is using the process of desalinization. Industrial development is filling our rivers seas and oceans with toxic pollutants which are a major threat to human health.

13. Urban Sprawl: Urban sprawl refers to migration of population from high density urban areas to low density rural areas which results in spreading of city over more and more rural land. Urban sprawl results in land degradation, increased traffic, environmental issues and health issues. The ever growing demand of land displaces natural environment consisting of flora and fauna instead of being replaced.

14: Public Health Issues: The current environmental problems pose a lot of risk to health of humans, and animals. Dirty water is the biggest health risk of the world and poses threat to the quality of life and public health. Run-off to rivers carries along toxins, chemicals and disease carrying organisms. Pollutants cause respiratory disease like Asthma and cardiac-vascular problems. High temperatures encourage the spread of infectious diseases like Dengue.

15. Genetic Engineering: Genetic modification of food using biotechnology is called genetic engineering. Genetic modification of food results in increased toxins and diseases as genes from an allergic plant can transfer to target plant. Genetically modified crops can cause serious environmental problems as an engineered gene may prove toxic to wildlife. Another drawback is that increased use of toxins to make insect resistant plant can cause resultant organisms to become resistant to antibiotics.

The need for change in our daily lives and the movements of our government is growing. Because so many different factors come into play; voting, governmental issues, the desire to stick to routine, many people don’t consider that what they do will affect future generations. If humans continue moving forward in such a harmful way towards the future, then there will be no future to consider. Although it’s true that we cannot physically stop our ozone layer from thinning (and scientists are still having trouble figuring out what is causing it exactly,) there are still so many things we can do to try and put a dent in what we already know. By raising awareness in your local community and within your families about these issues, you can help contribute to a more environmentally conscious and friendly place for you to live.

   Volunteering-always a way 

     to change someone's life

Volunteering to help others doesn't only 

feel good — it can also improve your 

mental health and help you live longer, 

according to a new study published Friday in the journal BMC Public Health.

In a review of 40 academic papers by the 

UK's University of Exeter, researchers 

found that volunteers had lower self-

rated levels of depression and high levels

 of well-being and life satisfaction, 

although findings have yet to confirm 

this in trials. Volunteers were a fifth less likely to die within the next four to seven years than average.

Volunteering is thought to be especially 

good for the physical health of older 

people, by encouraging them to stay 

active and spend more time outside the 

home. But young people experience 

benefits as well: a separate U.S. study 

published earlier this year in the journal 

JAMA Pediatrics linked volunteering 

with improved cardiovascular health in 

high school students.

Motives behind volunteering include 

wanting to "give something back" to the 

community, but if volunteers felt they 

weren't "getting something back" in 

return, then the positive impact was 

more limited, the researchers explained.

An estimated 22.5 percent of people in 

Europe devote some of their free time to 

volunteering, compared with 27 percent 

in America and 36 percent in Australia.

Head researcher Dr. Suzanne Richards 

said: "Our systematic review shows that 

volunteering is associated with 

improvements in mental health, but 

more work is needed to establish 

whether volunteering is actually the 

cause."

"It is still unclear whether biological and 

cultural factors and social resources that 

are often associated with better health 

and survival are also associated with a 

willingness to volunteer in the first 

place."

A separate study from Carnegie Mellon 

University in the US announced in June 

found that volunteering can improve 

heart health by reducing blood pressure.