Monday, November 12, 2007

a penny for your thoughts

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.

No - not so that chance shall decide the affair

while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you're hoping.

Piet Hein (1905-1996)


My sister gave me this poem several years ago when I was caught in the purgatory of a decision. And I really did not get it. I just said, "Oh...thanks Em. That's cute." But I thought of it the other day when a new friend was explaining a predicament to me, and I totally got it. And now I love it. I mean, it's not super complex at all -- not like I couldn't have understood it years ago. I guess it just took a seat in the subconsious of my mind, not having a direct application to show itself through. And then someone needed it, and in pulling it off the shelf & dusting it off, I realized I needed it too.

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