What will you do with your one wild and precious life?

That's what Anita Roddick - founder of international cosmetics company The Body Shop asked of herself and the staff at her company.

What a question. On the one hand a call to take action on the other a rebuke - what could you be doing that you are not?

For many of us it is the latter as inevitably so many of our dreams fall by the wayside as we find ourselves living a life "less wild" perhaps than the one we imagined. That's not to say we don't like aspects of our lives. We just thought there might be a bit more to it that what perhaps we have.

But does it have to be that way?

Anita was an explosion of ideas and activity. She built a multi-million pound business from a small town in England and seemed never to lose her passion or enthusiasm for life. The drive and energy of people like Anita are inspiring and sometimes looking at the achievements of others its difficult not to feel overwhelmed. Why do certain people achieve so much while others of us seem to get stuck.

The fact is that we can't all be like Anita and to be honest we know that we are not that sort of person anyway. But we do have our own interests and passions and it is these that can bring us the joys and satisfaction of a wild and precious life.

Ok you don't want to found an international company but how much better to be doing something, anything and doing it with passion because it is your passion.

So what will you do with your one wild and precious life?

Neill Wilkins