Don’t miss out; Dance in this Life…

Several years ago a friend gave me a
cassette tape that was a compilation
of mostly country music.
It was meant to be a joke,
because everyone knew I
couldn’t stand country music.
Not knowing what was on the tape, I played it.
I’d listen to a few seconds of one,
fast forward to the next, etc.
Ugh…
But one caught my attention because
it started out with a piano intro
– and I love the piano.
How deceptive !
It was an OK song, but it was COUNTRY,
so I recorded the beginning and the end of it
over and over on both sides of the tape,
leaving out all but the piano !
Yet I made the mistake of listening to it – really listening to it.
It’s a short song – and here’s what it said:

“Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared beneath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known you’d ever say goodbye

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end
the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d of had to miss the dance

Holding you I held everything
For a moment wasn’t I the king
But if I’d only known how the king would fall
Hey who’s to say you know I might have changed it all

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end
the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d of had to miss the dance

Yes my life is better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
but I’d of had to miss the dance…”

(thank you, Garth Brooks )

That song opened up a respect for country music
that I had not allowed before, and now I hold country music
with appreciation rather than disdain.
So tell me this – when you read the lyrics to the song
(you did, right?) what did you get out of it ?

It’s many things to me.
It describes my last relationship;
In it I felt like a king, and she my Lady.
When it ended, I was devastated.
Looking back, the dance we had was worth it.
I never would have experienced such an intensity
of love and passion – to know what that was like…
And even the deepest wounds can heal in time.
There are so many things in our lives
that we often wish we could change.
Yet if we did – what would we miss ?

I’m reminded of a story I heard many years ago.
A woman, overcome with grief, was granted a wish.
She could have all of her memories washed away
- all of her sadness, pain and tragedies would be gone.
But when she realized that she would also lose
her moments of happiness, joys and triumph
she declined the granted wish.

You and I have been through many things that
at first we wish we’d never experienced.
Heck, we may never think otherwise !
And though it’s easy to say that the bitter in our lives
makes the good all the more sweet,
it is so hard to swallow that pill.
And as much as I’d like to tell you I know why
you go through the turmoil that you do – I can’t.
I don’t understand it in my own Life,
why pretend I have the answers to yours ?
But experience has taught me and brought me many things
that if it were not through adversity I would not have “danced”
with so much joy in this Life.
Once again, as it is with so much I try to share with you
- what I’ve said has hit me the hardest, and on this day
I can say that I am thankful for what I have received
- no matter what it might look like…