Below is the transcript of episode 14 of the One Last Thought podcast, titled "What Will You Do With Your One Wild and Precious Life?" and I wanted to share it as a blog post, as there is so much value to be gained by these powerful thoughts shared by Angela Shaw and Joe Ferraro. Enjoy.
Instead of thinking of all the ways that our dreams won't come true, why ideas are so ridiculous, how about thinking about how to go from zero to one?
You are not a victim in life.
There's a Mary Oliver poem that reads, what will you do with your one wild and precious life.
As a woman of color, I have fought battles my entire life, both real and unreal.
Realize that though bad luck will come to everybody, and we cannot control it, we have so much more control over our lives than we might think.
The reality is that there are certain circumstances bias and themes that can stop you from being whomever you want. But don't let things happen to you.
If we only get one life, let's realize that we have more control over it than people tell us. We have more control over it than we might even think.
The unreal is that I thought someone else had to give me a job, a college education, a scholarship. Opportunity.
Instead of thinking of all the ways that our dreams won't come true, why ideas are so ridiculous. How about thinking about how to go from zero to one?
Power is dormant until you activate it. But once you activate your power, concentrate on what you can do with it, and have power over.
Here's my dream, and what is step one, If I believed I could achieve that dream?
When I started to concentrate on what I could do, like volunteer leadership, teaching an entry-level career class and networking without a purpose, that is when I started to see results.
I've been a teacher, a division one baseball player, a food critic, and so many people saying, how can you become a food critic, you put it out there, and you work towards it.
Hard work, multiple bodies of work, and resilience have led me to now what is a path of what I feel is success, understanding, and happiness.
I'm just a regular person. And if you believe that getting better each and every day, that learning something new is exciting, and a crucial piece of development, then I think we can get the best way to take advantage of that one wild and precious life.
When I finally realized that I was meant for more, I knew that I had the victim mentality run my life.
If you think about that question, and you have one last thought, it's to be active towards your dreams.
And once you do that, you will understand that you control your narrative in life.
My advice, my one last thought, take control. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't be a Monday person. Start today.
I now control my narrative in life. I am not a victim, and neither are you.
What can you do today to be one step closer to the person you want to be? We have more control over this world and this life than we might think. That's my One Last Thought.
