Your One Wild and Precious Life

This is usually a work-focused blog but I wanted to break from that, for a moment, to ask you a question –

What is it you’re working for? 

I’ve asked myself this question at least a dozen times in the last several weeks. And reflecting on it led to the realization that:

The periods of my life marked by the greatest joy are when 1) I have a clear vision of what really matters and 2) daily life aligns with that vision.

The opposite has also been true.

Periods marked by burnout, or depression, were when I lost sight of what really mattered (according to my own internal compass). Or I attempted to squeeze into a mold of expectations outside myself. Or they were simply periods when *how* I spent the bulk of my time was incompatible with what I knew really mattered.

Fortunately we can distinguish not only right from wrong but also good from best. And once you have clarity, once you know what really matters to you, you have the power to choose more of that. No matter your current situation.

More “best.”

More joy.

Greater alignment between how you live – and why.

I keep coming back to this quote, taken from “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver:

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

Do things that really matter to you occupy the bulk of your time and energy?

Do you even know what they are?

If not, what can you do today to change that?

Leave no choice unconsidered.

How you live the rest of your life depends on it.