I don’t care what university you went to and what you majored in.

I don’t care how much you paid for your house in the country.

I don’t care if you’re telling me the truth about being on the board at work,

how much you earn or the cars you drive.

All I want to know is what enlightens you from the inside when the world

 collapses around you.

I want to know if you can live with defeat and tragedy,

enjoy your quest for adventure and say as you stand at the edge ‘I’m still standing’.

I’d like to know what you yearn for in your moments of solitude

and your craving for someone else’s heart.

I’m curious to know if you have touched the very epicentre of

your grief and never felt the trauma of pain.

Tell me that you can dance with joy and let ecstasy flow through

every fibre of your being.

That you can see the beauty in everybody, every day.

Convince me that you can transcend the mundane and soar into the kingdom

of empathy, charity and care.