Putting My Dancing Shoes On

I gave up making New Year's resolutions years ago.  They just didn't do much for me.  They were like empty words and that were easily forgotten (or if I'm being honest, ignored) within no time.  Last year I decided to do something different.  I cannot take credit for the idea ... it's all over the blogoshere ... but I have embraced it as my own.  I chose one word to sort of set the tone for my year.  One word that resonated with me and that I could see myself applying to all aspects of my life.

The word I chose last year was ruminate.  I had gone through alot of craziness in 2010 and knew I needed to allow myself the time to just sit back and think about things for a while.  I needed to take the pressure off myself to do, and give myslf permission to just think about the possibilities.  I needed to ruminate. 

I can honestly say that ruminate was the perfect word for me in 2011, but now I feel like I am ready to do.  I thought long and hard about the w0rd I could choose  for 2012,  but in the end one kinda sorta chose me.  Are you familiar with the song by Lee Ann Womack called, "I Hope You Dance"? 

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'

Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'

Don't let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter

When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

 

lyrics from Lee Ann Womack's, "I Hope You Dance"

writers:  Tia Sillers & Mark D. Sanders 

 

This song has  been a favorite of mine ever since I first heard it, but I always thought of it as a type of wish/prayer for my chicklets.  The other day, however, I was walking on the treadmill (a wonderful place to ruminate, by the way) and my thoughts began to wander from here to there and everywhere in between.  At one point I found myself thinking about my sister, as I often do, and about the things I wish I could talk to her about.  I thought a bit about what she might have shared with me if we had had more time.  What words of wisdom would she have given me.  It was right then that this song came on the radio.  A meaningful coincidence -- or as I like to call it a God-instance?  I don't know, but for the first time I didn't think about the song's lyrics being for my littles.  Instead I thought of them as a charge for me to stop wasting my precious time sitting it out on the sidelines.  It felt like a divine nudge aimed directly at  me to make the choice to, well for lack of a better word, to dance.
 
I often think about what I will do "when".  When I lose weight.  When I have more time.  When I grow up.  You get the picture.  The truth is some of those things may take a while ... a very looooooooooong while :)  In the meantime, I have passed up so many chances to  "dance"  -- chances that I may never have again.  Well, for 2012 (and beyond God-willing) I am going to change that.  I'm not going to sit this one out ... I'm gonna dance!