'True Growth' by Ben Jonson

TRUE GROWTH

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be
Or standing long as an oak, three hundred years
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere.
A Lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauty see
And in short measures life may perfect be.

(BEN JONSON)

A short but a very meaningful poem! It gives us the essence of a happy life. We should not live life by years; it is the moments by which we should live to lead a blissful and fruitful life. We cannot make a year wonderful but at least we can create memorable moments for ourselves and others to cherish. This is the real beauty of a life well lived.
What makes our lives tragic is that we often stretch the possibility of an upcoming problem that it overshadows our present too. Let life take its own course, may be if we had waited the problem might never have reached us. ‘Enjoy the present and leave the rest’ is the policy to be followed. Enjoy what you have in the hands; don’t spoil it with undue fears and anxieties.
Life is indeed ‘perfect in short measures’. We don’t remember a year as a whole; we are nostalgic about particular occasions, a moment, a kind gesture or even the heartfelt words spoken to us. These are the ‘short measures’ of life, which are in themselves invaluable as they are the most valuable things.