The Life I Chose for Myself
(by Hermann Hesse)
Before I came into this earthly life,
they showed me what my journey would be like:
There would be troubles, sorrow and loss,
hardship and pain to walk through.
There would be faults I’d have to face,
mistakes that would bind me,
bursts of anger, resentment,
hatred, pride, and shame to overcome.
But there would also be days full of light —
joyful moments, shimmering with dreams,
free from burdens and complaints,
where blessings would flow in abundance.
Where love, in its grace, would touch
this soul wrapped in earthly clothing,
where I, lifted from human pain,
could almost believe myself a higher being.
They showed me both the dark and the light,
they showed me how much I would lack.
They showed me my wounds, bleeding and raw —
and the hands of angels reaching out to help.
As I stood before the path of my life,
I heard a voice ask gently:
“Are you brave enough to live this life?”
For the moment of choice had come.
I paused once more, looked deeply at the pain —
and with a clear and steady voice, I said:
“Yes. This is the life I choose to live.”
And in silence, I took on my destiny.
This is how I was born into this world,
this is how I stepped into new life.
So I do not complain when things are hard —
I accepted it all, long before I was born.