First, I must apologize for being lazy these past few weeks. I hope to get back on track and doing my best to write every week. You see, I really love doing it. Onto this week’s blog.
“The Dance” by Garth Brooks.
There are many genres of music. I think I found my love of country music when I was traveling back and forth from Lakeland, FL to Riverview, FL each school day. The trip took about 45 minutes but was a relaxing drive on the country roads of Florida. The negative was when the raised-up pickups would get on your bumper. Maybe the so-called Red Necks?? There were many days I wanted to trade in our SUV for one of those trucks, make sure it was all black, have tinted windows, and Mean Mama on the front license plate.
You could tell what season it was by the crops in the many fields that I passed. Tomatoes, strawberries, and cattle come to mind. The area I drove was a large farming and ranching area. When one thinks of Florida, Disney and the beaches come to mind. The sunshine state is more than just for entertainment.
Garth Brooks is a country artist that sings true country music. Many other country singers sound more pop. If you listen to Garth’s music, you will quickly come to this conclusion. He sings about the many facets of life. I often wonder if the songs are from his life experiences. What a better way to tell your story than through music.
My two sisters and I were fortunate to see Garth in concert in Orlando. They came to help me pack up for my move to Atlanta. My youngest son got us tickets in one of the many boxes in the Amway Arena. Wow, food and drink, and great music at a concert.
The beautiful song, “The Dance” could be played at church for a wedding, a wedding reception, and yes, even a funeral. It depicts the various stages of life. The question that comes to my mind when listening to it is, if I would have known the outcome of my life, would I have danced the dance differently, or maybe not danced at all.
Various stages bring about the different parts of the dance. There is high school, college, going to serve our country, finding a job, falling in love with our perfect partner, choosing to have a family. We soon discover things can change in a heartbeat, and there is a challenge which is presented to us.
Perhaps we decide to drop out of high school or college, cannot find a good job where we will be happy, lose the love of our life, and our children choose to put us aside. These things we refer to as “just life” but interrupt the good part of “The Dance”. Sooooo…Onward we go taking chances.
As the song states, we could have chosen “to miss the pain; but we would have missed The Dance”. Pains of all kinds are part of our life. When we are going through these trials and tribulations, we need to realize that the experiences will make us stronger. As I look back on my life, I truly believe that this is so true. So many times, a very good friend of mine would tell me that God gives you only what you can handle. By His grace, you do come out being a stronger person, and you can deal with the next pain with more strength and knowledge.
“The Dance” goes on. What would you do and how would you react if you knew the outcome of your life, or when life changing events would occur? Would you want to know when someone was going to pass away, or when we would pass away? I have often thought many, many times if I would want to know. Maybe yes and maybe no. If I did know, would I just give up and wait for the outcome of the end of my life. “The Dance” would just stop and we would be watching life go by instead of participating.
So onward we dance, being the king or queen of our individual kingdom, making choices, having the pains, and coming through them with shining stars. It is better by chance, more surprises, and surprises are good.
“The Dance” song by Garth Brooks (Wait for the Skip Ads and enjoy! And listen closely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhnFvxTjok
On the memory of
The dance we shared
‘Neath the stars above
For a moment
All the world was right
But how could I have known
That 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 have had to miss the dance
Holding you
I held everything
For a moment
Wasn’t I the king?
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 have had to miss the dance
It’s my life, it’s better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the (dance)
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Arata Anthony M
The Dance lyrics © Emi April Music Inc., Sparrow Song, Morganactive Songs, Inc., Emi April Music Inc., Morganactive Songs Inc.