Mark Nepo is an author from whom I regularly draw strength and peace. This poem arrived in my in-box recently. It spoke to me profoundly, in a way sunrises do for me like this one in Mancos, Colorado. Maybe it will speak to you too.

What does it say to you? What hits home? What doesn’t sit comfortably? How will you now strive to live differently? From what sources do you draw strength and peace?

Every day, we are challenged to love what we’re given as much as what we want. We don’t have to like the things we’re given, but we need to find a way to accept them. And love is the surest way to deepen our acceptance. And so, we must stay devoted to getting up one more time than we fall down. To waking up one more time than we fall asleep. To being sensitive one more time than we are blunt and cumbersome. To listen one more time than we speak. To hold one more time than we drop what we’re holding. To aspire to be clear one more time than we are confused. To open one more than we close. And to lean into life one more time than we are pushed away. We may not always land in the open, but when we do, the tenderness we find is the earned fragrance of peace.

ONE MORE TIME – Mark Nepo