“I’m grateful I get to live the life I was given to live.”

The other day as I was waking up, in that halfway state between sleeping and wakefulness, in the purgatory between this world and the dream world, the voice in my head (or wherever that voice lives…) said to me:

“I’m grateful I get to live the life I was given to live.”

So much could be written about this simple sentence and writing may not do it justice but here’s my breakdown:

Grateful — we cannot be angry and grateful at the same time, it’s scientifically proven.

Get to — I “get to”. I don’t “have to”, I’m not “supposed to”. I GET TO. I have this “one wild and precious life”, as the recently past Mary Oliver said. It’s a privilege, I GET TO.

Live — the active form of the verb, “live”. To live life is to be active and moving, not passive.

THE life — this is it, this is all we get, this one life. Interestingly enough, this was in my head the day before the great Mary Oliver, whom the above quote is ascribed to, died. Maybe Mary was whispering to me from somewhere. We only get this “one wild and precious life”.

Given to live — I am given this life. My mother and father gave me physical life and the rest is an honor for me to live. We are given this life with no guarantees and no promises. We don’t deserve anything. We’re not entitled to anything. The only thing we get is life itself, and the rest is wide open.

So as Mary would ask: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”