From Success to Significance

June 27, 2009

When you consider the concept of moving from success to significance. The question arises within yourself along the journey, “Do I have to do something to be significant? Or is it enough that I am who I am? This poem by Mary Oliver called Sunshine brings a greater depth of meaning to these questions.

Sunrise by Mary Oliver

You can
die for it–
an idea,
or the world. People
have done so,
brilliantly,
letting
their small bodies be bound
to the stake,
creating
an unforgettable
fury of light. But
this morning,
climbing the familiar hills
in the familiar
fabric of dawn, I thought
of China,
and India
and Europe, and I thought
how the sun
blazes
for everyone just
so joyfully
as it rises
under the lashes
of my own eyes, and I thought
I am so many!
What is my name?
What is the name
of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it
whatever you want, it is
happiness, it is another one
of the ways to enter
fire.


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