One of My Favorite Things: A Poem

My friend Art Williams sent me this about 18 years ago and it immediately became one of my favorites. Now that wasn’t a big deal because I have never been a big fan of poetry, but then as far as I knew, neither was Art.

This one was different though, and I think you’ll see why.

Good Morning

Every morning in Africa,
A gazelle wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster
Than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle
Or it will starve to death.
It doesn't matter
Whether you are
A lion or a gazelle...

      —Anonymous

What’s so perfect about this is that it presents life as it is—reality in its unvarnished truth. You may not like it, you might not think that is the way life should be, but it doesn’t matter. That is the way it is. And like the gazelle in Africa, if you ignore it and pretend dangers don’t exist, you won’t last long. 

If you’re smart and you want to survive, you’ll copy the gazelle and wake up running!