For quite some time I’ve had the poem below saved in my drafts. I found it in a book I read on OCD a few years ago, and it really stuck with me.
How many times have we had to adapt and make changes, because what we were planning or waiting for… didn’t happen as we expected it would?
The Holland Poem fits many scenarios in life where we find ourselves walking down a path we never dreamt we’d take… (though it was originally written about having a child with Autism).
I’ve wondered how/when I wanted to post it on my blog, then a few days ago a very dear friend sent it to me thinking I might be able to relate. Imagine how surprised I was when I realized what poem it was… I couldn’t wait to tell her that it was one of my favorites!
(btw, God is so awesome… He puts some pretty cool people in our lives)
I was deeply touched by her thoughtfulness, and it made me realize that I really wanted to share it with any others who may not have seen it… and it goes along with my post on ‘Unconditional Love’ from earlier this week.
If you have a disabled child… whether it is a learning disability or a more physical handicap… or maybe a spouse that has become ill, or… (the possibilities are endless)… you can relate to these feelings.
It isn’t about being ‘disappointed’… it is something completely different and difficult to explain if you haven’t experienced it. That is why I love the words of the poem so much… the author did a great job expressing these emotions!
There have been MANY situations which have presented themselves in my life that made me want to turn and run… but if I had, there are so many blessings, and so much joy I would have missed out on!
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30
Instead of hiding or running away… I try to adapt when something is thrown at me I wasn’t expecting… and pray I’ll be able to handle it… whatever it may be.
Can you relate to the following… ?
“Welcome to Holland”
By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.
When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”
“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”
But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills….and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy… and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things … about Holland.
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I’ve seen this one before, and I still think it’s beautiful.
Love this poem…I’ve seen it before…so beautifully said.
tulips are very beautiful.
and so are you.
i just read kathleens post, the love stomp.
it has the same kind of message, i think.
i am so amazed and honored today to read both yours and hers.
http://koverb.blogspot.com/
I just read that post… really good stuff!
I worked with the Learning Disabilities Association at one point, and we kept copies of this one for parents. Like you say, it applies in so many ways in so many places. Always good to remember. Thanks for this one today.
I, too, have seen this prose poem before; reading it again still stirs.
Thank you.
I get it and it’s so true. Thanks for the reminder.
“The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.”
That’s always the case, no matter how much it feels like the opposite.
-Marshall Jones Jr.