Count Your Age By Friends

Life Cannot Be All Plain Sailing.
That calls for no effort from you.
Just drifting in summery weather
With never a cloud in the blue.
You never can tell in the morning
What sort of day it will be.
Although it begins in calm waters,
A storm may blow up suddenly.
To land you in all kinds of trouble,
So know how to handle your sails,
Gliding along in the sunshine
Or steering a course through the gales.
Ready for changing direction,
Unruffled when put to the test,
By failure, success or misfortune,
Prepared for the worst and the best.

Be Careful In All You say.
It’s so easy to be offended by someone’s casual remark.
Quite likely no hurt was intended,
Simply lack of thought on their part.
It’s a trap into which we can all slip when gossip has its way,
So guard against wounding a friendship,
Be careful in all you say.

Count Your Age By Friends.
In a garden count it flowers,
Never count the leaves that fall.
Remember lifetime’s golden hours,
Not those times when troubles call.
Remember nights by stars, not shadows.
Recall those days of smiles, not tears.
And when marking time’s swift passage,
Count your age by friends, not years.

Marriage Is Sharing.
Marriage is sharing with smiles and tears,
Whatever may come with the changing years.
Marriage is learning what life can be
When two hearts beat in harmony.
Marriage is building from day to day
A home that’s a place where you both can stay.
Happy together, contented there,
Whether the weather be foul or fair.
Marriage is loving unfailingly
Marriage is kindness and loyalty.
Marriage is making a dream come true
And keeping the dream forever new.

When You Get To The End Of A Dream.
And the future looks hopeless and grey,
Things are never as bad as they seem,
Though your heart may be breaking today.
You will soon see the sun shining through,
Though at first it is only a gleam,
Never say life is over for you,
When you come to the end of a dream.
Winter does not last forever,
Nor does grief remain.
When time has done its healing work
And spring has come again.
Love lives on and life comes back,
The spirit to renew.
Wherever there’s an open door,
To let the glory through.

All Our Days Are Numbered.
But it’s not for us to know
Just how many days are left.
So don’t let this one go
Unmarked by something good or lovely
Something true or fine
Something that redeems it
With a touch of the divine.
Think a thought that lifts your mind
On to a higher track
Do the thing that takes a load
From someone else’s back
Say the word that changes
Conflict into harmony.
Strike the note that turns the discord
Into melody.