Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

You will know if I am wise by my silences.

You will know if I am strong by my stewardship of weakness.

You will know if I am joyful by the freedom and grace of my tears.

I will show you power by relinquishing it.

I will demonstrate any significance that I possess by denying self-importance.

You will know me best if I talk of myself less.

You will know what I value by what I do.

You will know my love in what I am willing to lose.

I will declare my passion in my interest in yours.

I will be remembered in my willingness to be forgotten.

I will be encouraged in your courage.

I will know success in your success.

I will find hope and fulfillment in know that you have embraced these in your life.

I will die at peace if I know that I have stirred no waves of resentment or jealousy by being myself.

I will lay myself down to rest if I know that others will step into my step and maintain the uninterrupted flow of life.

If I can be unknown, unheralded, and unremarkable, that will be more than OK.

That will be a blessing.

Perhaps then, you may suspect, that I lived with a quiet wisdom and serenity and passed from here content.

You will know if I am wise by my silence.