Die Slowly
by one of my all time favorite poets Pablo Neruda

He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience, dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones ?is? rather than a bundle of emotions,
the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings, dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives, die slowly.

He who does not travel,
who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself, dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck,
about the rain that never stops, dies slowly.

He or she who abandon a project before starting it,
who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn?t know,
he or she who don?t reply when they are asked something they do know, die slowly.

Let’s try and avoid death in small doses,
always reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort by far
greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

***
Orginally translated from:

Muere lentamente quien no viaja,
quien no lee,
quien no oye m?sica
quien no encuentra gracia en s? mismo

Muere lentamente
quien destruye su amor propio,
quien no se deja ayudar.

Muere lentamente
quien se transforma en esclavo del h?bito
repitiendo todos los d?as los mismos
trayectos,
quien no cambia de marca,
no se atreve a cambiar el color de su vestimenta
o bien no conversa con quien no conoce.

Muere lentamente
quien evita una pasi?n y su remolino de
emociones,
justamente éstas que regresanel brillo a los ojos
y restauran los corazones destrozados.

Muere lentamente
quien no gira el volante cuando est? infeliz con
su trabajo, o su amor,
quien no arriesga lo cierto ni lo incierto para ir
atr?s de un sue?o
quien no se permite, ni siquiera una vez en su vida,
huir de los consejos sensatos……

? Vive hoy !

? Arriesga hoy !

?Hazlo hoy !

? No te dejes morir lentamente !

? No te impidas ser feliz !