DailyGood

For the last 27 years, DailyGood newsletters have offered a daily email that inspires you to respond to life with creativity and kindness. To join a community of 148,386 subscribers, subscribe here.

Feb 11, 2012

"Have the life you want by being fully present to the life you have." --Mark Nepo

Waking Up to the Life We Have

"You know we really don't have any other choice but to be present to the life we have. We think we do, you know, we dream of everything from constructing pyramids, to conquering Mount Everest, to making millions -- to all kinds of things -- but the truth is that other than being fully present and caring and giving our best, we don't have a lot of control. So I found myself back in life, where I had been in my mid thirties, and I was trying to contribute and help change the world and all of a sudden the world was changing me, the world was opening me. And through that opening I have been able, paradoxically, to make a greater contribution for having been opened. And I think the things, among many, that came out of my cancer journey was that through no wisdom of mine, I woke up." Gifted writer Mark Nepo, featured on Oprah's Ultimate Favorite Things show, shares his poetic journey.