A Sweet Note and a Poem

A couple days ago I received a little card from Odessa. After reading my post on my weight struggles, she wanted to share a poem that never fails to cheer her up. I couldn't help but share it with the rest of you:

Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
Over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Image: feedmewp.com