Full of Possibility

 “Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?” 

― Mary Oliver

Things happen because other things happen! A theme that resonates in so many lives. Waiting in the winter - waiting for the snow to thaw, for the ice to melt on the pond, and the buds of the crocus to make their way through the soil. While walking in the woods the other day I found myself on an unfamiliar path - longing for spring. As I wandered off the path I found the spot where I had heard a pileated woodpecker - the sound of its beak chipping away at a tree. I came upon the tree - it was devastated by the persistent pecking. Patient and steady work. The woodpecker, small by comparison, bit by bit, had taken the tree down.

Spring is really coming, but it seemed for a bit, winter wanted to hang on. Just like most of us - we sometimes want to linger in what was or what could have been. Spring is surely upon us now. The birds greet us before the dawn. The song beckons us out into the world. I am glad for a new season. I have longed for spring. Like many before me wandering in the desert - I did not know what I was longing for. Today many exciting adventures lie before me. 

Sometimes that is how life can be - a call that you hear, deep in your heart, but you can’t see the possibility. Not ready for the season to change - like winter failing to yield to spring. The seasons move ahead while lingering, for a bit, in the past. Then - all at once - the crocus has made its way through the dirt and the tree appears. I know today the woodpecker I heard on the morning walk in the woods existed. With patience everything can be possible! 

Seasons rolling from one to another. Linger in spring. Smell the possibility of the new. Live this one wild and precious life. Wander for a while in the mystery of spring; the blue mist on the horizon just before dawn, seeds planted and scattered bursting to life, and the mystery and beauty of the world waking up again in this season. Savor the fine meal, together with family. Share the day filled with stories and laughter. No need to hurry to summer, fall or winter. No lingering in what was in those seasons. Stand right here today in this life - in this time - grateful for the blessings of the day large and small - in this one and only life!