In Any Language, The World Needs You Now!

Back in the 20th century, I wrote “The World Needs You Now.” Since then, it has appeared time and again on this site and others. Just recently, I met up with Frédéric G.M. at his French poetry site le Coeur immense. (BTW, he also has an English-language poetry site, wordsinthelight.com.) I asked if he might consider translating one of my poems into French, and before I knew it, he had selected “The World Needs You Now” and it was in my email inbox. In French! He explained that he did not create a literal translation, though he sought to come as close as possible to my original text. When I read his creation with the help of an online translator, I was touched and delighted at the gift he had given me!

 Frédéric described the poem this way: “…a call for self confidence, a call for spiritual improvement, and I like it, because so many people (in fact, all of us…) need such messages !”

So here is my original English version (with audio), followed by Frédéric’s French version. If you are so inspired, I invite you to join in and translate the poem into your native or acquired language, send it back to me, and I will post it with a link to your site. This way, more people in more places can receive the uplifting message that each one of us has a singular gift to give — and now is the time to come out of the shadows and shine.

I will not edit your creation because I won’t have any idea what your language is saying! I will simply trust that you are a person of good mind and heart — and you wish the same for our sisters and brothers on Planet Earth. If you want to create a video, audio, music, or something unconventional with the poem, I would love to hear those ideas, too.

And, if you speak Russian, perhaps you can go here to an early post, scroll down to the Russian pingbacks, and help me locate the poem that someone translated into Russian some years ago so I can post that as well. Or, if you like, you can create your own version. Remember, the world needs you, and the world needs you now!

The World Needs You Now
by Rachel Snyder

The world needs you now.

More than you know.
More than you can imagine.

The world needs your gifts.
Your heart.
Your compassion.
Your understanding.

Your ability to listen
To speak
To feel
And to act.

The gifts that only you can give,
In the way that you and you alone can give them.

 The time for holding back is over.

The time for believing that you are not good enough,
Not ready enough
Not wise enough
Has passed.

The time for fearing that you are too good,
Too powerful
Too magnificent
Too intelligent,
No longer exists.

You have run out of excuses.

You have exhausted every reason why you cannot be
Exactly who you were placed here to be.

Your usual distractions no longer distract.
Your strategies for staying small
For resisting the call to awaken
Are dead.

The world needs you now,
More than you know.

In the Great Circle of Life,
A space has been held for you
Since before Time began.

As you wandered, as you explored,
Your shoes waited, marking your place.

No one else approached,
For these shoes could only be filled by you.
You agreed to step into them when you were ready
To take your rightful place on the Circle.

And now, you are ready.

You are bored with your own self-absorption.
You choke and gag on your endless self-reflection and
Your belly is filled with an urgency
To leave jobs behind and embrace your real Work.

Now, at the exact moment that the world needs you,
You have uncovered and recovered
and discovered enough
So that your authentic self can see the light of day.

So that you can step into the shoes that have been
Waiting for you since before time began.

Every moment that you delay,
Widens the hole in the web of existence.

For you are an essential ingredient,
Without which Creation is incomplete.
Global harmony rests in the palm of your hand.
Planetary peace will simply not be attained without
Your heart
Your mind
Your spirit.

The world needs you
And the world needs you now.

More than you know.
More than you can ever imagine.

Le Monde A Besoin De Toi
Traduction Par Frédéric G. M.

Plus que tu ne l’imagines, le monde a besoin de toi.

Tes dons, ton cœur, ta compassion, ta compréhension,
Ton écoute, ta parole, ta sensibilité, tes actes,

Oui, le monde en a besoin !

Ces dons que tu as reçus et que tu dois donner,
maintenant, à ta façon.

Le temps de la retenue est révolu !
Pas assez prêt ? Pas assez sage ? Pas assez bon ?
Le temps des fausses excuses est passé !

Tu ne peux plus craindre la force, la magnificence,l’intelligence.

Tu n’as plus aucune excuse.

Tu es à court d’argument pour ne pas être qui tu es,là où tu es,
et ne pas atteindre le but qui t’es assigné.

Plus de distractions, de stratégies d’évitement, de petitesse !

L’appel à ton éveil est lancé !

Plus que tu ne l’imagines, le monde a besoin de toi.

Maintenant.

Dans le grande cercle de la Vie une place te fut réservéeavant même
que le Temps ne commence.

Enfile donc tes bottes de sept lieues !
Elle étaient là, qui t’attendaient, alors que tu tergiversais,
mais toi seul pouvais les chausser.

Et tu es prêt. Tu les as enfilées.

Tu les as enfilées.

Lassé du nombrilisme, tu as brisé le narcissisme,
et, libéré de l’esclavage, tu t’es attelé à ton véritable travail,
au moment exact où le monde as besoin de toi.

Tu as cherché et trouvé. 
Ton véritable Toi peut voir la lumière du jour.

Désormais tu pourras avancer à pas de géant. Chaque instant d’hésitation élargira l’accroc dans la toile de l’existence, car tu es une partie du tout sans laquelle il est incomplet.

Et l’harmonie totale repose aux creux de tes mains :
sans ton cœur 
sans ton esprit 
sans ton àme 
la paix universelle ne pourra advenir.

Plus que tu ne l’imagines, le monde a besoin de toi.

Oui, le monde a besoin de toi,

Maintenant.