RIP Mary Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019).  Thank you for your precious words.

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I was recently sent a quote that got stuck in my mind and refused to leave.  It went like this –

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

Think about that for a minute.

…your one wild and precious life…

Every one of those words is heavy with meaning, dripping with significance.

Isn’t it?

It got me thinking. 

It also sent me off on a short, beautiful journey of discovery. I discovered (better late than never!) that this is a line from a poem, The Summer Day, by the famous American poet and Pulitzer prize winner, Mary Oliver. From this, I went on to discover her other wonderful poems. And I’m not done yet. But that’s a story for another day.

The essence of that one line makes me think about how careless we sometimes are about our one wild and precious life.

We don’t value it enough to get the best out of it.

We abuse.

We regret.

We fume.

We blame.

We envy.

We look elsewhere.

We get so full of should-haves and could-haves, we don’t pay attention to how fabulous and precious what we have already is.

Why is that?

Shouldn’t we be mostly celebrating our life and the world around that makes it what it is? Why waste a single moment on anything but making the most of it – each of us, as we live our one wild and precious life?

So much better to live in the awareness of how fortunate we are, rather than to get subsumed by all the things we think we should be and imagine that we should have.

If we look hard enough, dare I say – if we  look really hard – what we will find is that life is good, life is very beautiful, indeed. And that’s something to be embraced and treasured. Every. Day.

I just came home from listening to an inspiring presentation from a young lady I know who has faced some of the toughest obstacles in life. Born with a birth defect, she has had to endure more than fifty surgeries (so far) and is unable to eat, except through an IV tube. She told her audience that her life had taught her to be a fighter and to defy all odds, and that the many scars she bears are simply testimony to her determination and hope. After each challenge she faces, she simply develops a new normal. She truly appreciates what others take for granted.

Now, here’s someone who knows precisely how priceless her one wild and precious life is, regardless (or because?) of all the hurdles it has thrown her way. 

And you? Would you say that you are living life to the fullest?

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

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