The Wish
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Should some great angel say to me to-morrow,
“Thou must re-tread thy pathway from the start,
But God will grant, in pity, for thy sorrow,
Some one dear wish, the nearest to thy heart.”
This were my wish!—from my life’s dim beginning
Let be what has been! wisdom planned the whole
My want, my woe, my errors, and my sinning,
All, all were needed lessons for my soul.”
Excerpt From
Poems of Power
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
When our “Why to Live” becomes bigger than the pain we are enduring, the pain desolves into the background.
I’ve found this true in my personal experiences and I’m sure you have as well.
Can you recall a time when you experienced a difficult challenge and you knew you couldn’t quit? Perhaps you had children or a partner depending on you. Perhaps you became so angry at what happened you had a cause to fight for and nothing would stop you.
I know readers will be inspired by your story if you care to share it.
Never quit. Never give up.
Each of us is a combination of light and shadow. We have a dark side as well as a light side. When we recognize our dark side, it is a humbling experience. It is also a liberating experience. We are liberated from thinking we are perfect. We become one with the rest of humanity.
Have you met your dark side?
If so, are you more aware when your dark side surfaces?
How have you experienced the struggle between light and shadow within your being?
to live in this world
you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
– Mary Oliver
retrieved from Poet Seers
Recommended Reading for Aspiring Writers by Stephen King
Richard Bausch, In the Night Season
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain
Michael Chabon, Werewolves in Their Youth
Roddy Doyle, The Woman Who Walked into Doors
Alex Garland, The Beach
Peter Hoeg, Smilla’s Sense of Snow
Mary Karr, The Liar’s Club
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air
Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes
Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden
Larry McMurtry, Dead Man’s Walk
Joyce Carol Oates, Zombie
Tim O’Brien, In the Lake of the Woods
Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
Richard Russo, Mohawk
Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
Anne Tyler, A Patchwork Planet.
Source: Open Culture
