I have crossed paths with so many people lately that are at a crossroads in life. It’s amazing the connection we share with others — the “human experience” — as we try to find the things that make us happy, create a life in which we feel fulfilled and connected with those around us — and ultimately, if we’re lucky find that place where we are truly content.
Someone recently gave me a book of poetry – “Ten Poems To Change Your Life”.
I’m not a huge poetry buff — especially when it’s sing-song rhyming poetry (not knocking it if you do like that!). However, there was one poem in the book named “The Journey” by Mary Oliver that I read over and over because it was a poem that I had read during the year that I made the decision that I had to make some life changes — ultimately moving to Costa Rica. I’ve come a long way. Feeling very thankful that I listened to that little voice inside me and made the decisions that have placed me where I am today.
The Journey
~Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.
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