O Truth, O Light of my heart, let not my own darkness speak to me! I had fallen into that darkness and was darkened thereby. But in it, even in its depths, I came to love thee. I went astray and still I remembered thee. I heard thy voice behind me, bidding me return, though I could scarcely hear it for the tumults of my boisterous passions. And now, behold, I am returning, burning and thirsting after thy fountain. Let no one hinder me; here will I drink and so have life. Let me not be my own life; for of myself I have lived badly. I was death to myself; in thee I have revived. Speak to me; converse with me. I have believed thy books, and their words are very deep.
O veritas, lumen cordis mei, non tenebrae meae loquantur mihi! defluxi ad ista et obscuratus sum, sed hinc, etiam hinc adamavi te. erravi et recordatus sum tui. audivi vocem tuam post me, ut redirem, et vix audivi propter tumultus impacatorum. et nunc ecce redeo aestuans et anhelans ad fontem tuum. nemo me prohibeat: hunc bibam et hunc vivam. non ego vita mea sim: male vixi ex me, mors mihi fui: in te revivesco. tu me alloquere, tu mihi sermocinare. credidi libris tuis, et verba eorum arcana valde.
Life isn’t about keeping score. It’s not about how many people call you and it’s not about who you’ve dated, are dating or haven’t dated at all. It isn’t about who you’ve kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl likes you. It’s not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. In fact, it’s not about grades, money, clothes or colleges that accept you or not. Life isn’t about if you have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it’s not about how accepted or not accepted you are. Life just isn’t about that.
But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It’s about how you feel about yourself. It’s about trust, happiness and compassion. It’s about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance and building confidence. It’s about what you say and what you mean. It’s about seeing people for who they are and not what they have.
Most of all, it is about choosing to use your life to touch someone else’s in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life’s about.