The Journey

Sent to me by a friend, who wrote, "This makes me think of you, and me, and other strong women."

I think this is a good perspective twist for most moms/women...that whole "put on your own oxygen mask first" idea. Not that you aren't then going to tend to the one next to you, but you simple can't if you have already passed out...especially when the PTA/Little League/acquaintance in perpetual need is knocking at your door asking you to volunteer again or you are comparing the size of your bank account/career aspirations/butt to that of your neighbor and on and on...

The Journey, by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.