Present Over Perfect ..

 

 

 

Wild Geese

By Mary Oliver

 

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have  to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

 

 

We all make mistakes and have regrets.  As we try to somehow make amends, there are those who wish to make us suffer for days, years, and until death.  I am present in my instinct to seek joy and set the boundaries for those who wish to destroy my peace.  I am inherently good and while some of my choices may have been bad, this is not my nature.  We all have the skeletons in the closet; we see that we are not alone.  We can become so self-absorbed in our suffering that we lose sight of the fact that no one else is affected by our inner turmoil.  We magnify these troubling thoughts way beyond their significance. 

 

Our frames of mind are a matter of perception.  We can spend all of our time weighed down by thoughts of the past and what we might have or should have done.  We should open our eyes to the potential of the present and all the mundane beauty there is to be harvested by simply taking the time to let it wash over us.  We are all really the same bundle of emotions and defensive stances.  I need to allow myself to be authentic in all things; I do not need to be perfect, just present and allowing my good will to drive my dreams, ambitions, and service to others.  What makes life interesting is that we all have something unique to offer the conglomerate of life and nature.  What makes us all important is that we all belong .. We don't have to perfect; just present.

 

 

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