They say that
“Ignorance is bliss.”
I beg to differ!
In ignorance 
I’ve lacked 
wisdom 
compassion
selflessness
truth – 
and was filled instead 
with the lies of
control
power
will
arrogance.
There’s been nothing blissful
in how I’ve treated others
or myself.
I’ve not been the master of myself
or anything else;
I’ve simply been 
a bumbling wannabe,
living in the illusion that my path was mine,
oblivious
to the truth of God’s time.
Oh, how thoughtless
and graceless
and unlovable 
I’ve been
in my misunderstanding 
of Henley’s great insight:
“I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.” 
How long I’ve lived
in that false blissfulness,
believing the whispers of deceit
conjured up in my mind!

It’s funny now – 
as I meditate on 
Yogananda’s equally insightful
verse:
“Wherever you go, 
conduct yourself with the consciousness
that you are the 
master of yourself” – 
and I know the true bliss
of being convicted with
a heart of
Love
and 
Truth
and
Faith – 
that conviction is the 
Master of my fate;
knowing God’s Spirit within me is the 
Captain of my soul.  

*With much gratitude for the writings of William Ernest Henley and Paramahansa Yogananda.