Have you ever built a sandcastle, only to watch it disintegrate beneath the power of the ocean? Did it stop you? Probably not. The most innovative children work around the problem, digging ditches, moats, and levies to disburse the water’s power outside of the central castle area. The more elaborate the defenses, the longer the castle stands. No matter what, come morning, only the clean face of the beach remains, unblemished by even the most sophisticated architecture. If only we can capture the youthful belief in the permanence of our structures. Thus, Dr. Kent’s eighth Paradoxical Commandment:
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
- I first encountered an adapted version of the “Paradoxical Commandments,” titled “The Final Analysis,” while listening to a Wayne Dyer audio CD in my early twenties. The meaning and message struck me as true, helping guide my thoughts and actions as I developed from a big kid into a real adult. Later, I discovered the poem was not actually written by Mother Theresa at all, but adapted, framed, and hung on the wall in her Calcutta orphanage. She cared about its message enough to use it to empower the weak and marginalized children to whom she gave her life.
The Paradoxical Commandments are reprinted with permission. © Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001