TICKET
This is the ticket
I failed to spend.
It is still in my pocket
at the fair’s end.
It is not only
suffering or grief
or even boredom
of which we are
offered more than
enough.
{from Say Uncle, by Kay Ryan}
For as simple as it is, this poem packs a punch. It’s a punch thrown by my bigger self and it’s trying to wake me up.
How much time do I spend counting what is not, rather than what is? How many moments do I let slip by because I am distracted by nostalgia for those that have come and gone; by anticipation for those not yet arrived?
How to be present to the present and make the very most of it? How to remember to ride the ride, right now?
This moment, is it enough?
DAVID BERRY is the author of “A More Daring Life: Finding Voice at the Crossroads of Change” and the founder of RULE13 Learning. He speaks and writes about the complexity of leading in a changing world.
