that's it.

that's it for my "i hope you dance" series. i hope you all got as much out of reading it as i did writing it. stuff goes back to normal from now on.

thanks for reading.

meg :)

wait...promise me one more thing.

if tomorrow you wake up feeling

unoriginal

or frail-hearted

or faithless

or tired of this world

please

open up the Word.

open up your heart.

if you seek the joy

and freedom

and hope

that inspired this series

the Lord is faithful to meet you there.

i know He did for me.

so in my heart of hearts...

I HOPE YOU DANCE.

I REALLY HOPE YOU DANCE.

amen.

but i'd also like to think that time and age are like cousins-

they're relative.

who said you have to go by actual miles?

if you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?

i'll even argue that you can bottle youth.

what you store it in is all up to you.

(i suggest your heart).

if you can figure out a way to keep

the energy and gumption and fire alive,

you'll always stay young.

and where there's youth, there's hope...

and where there's hope, there's wonder...

where there's wonder, there's faith...

where there's faith, there's chance...

where there's chance, there's love...

where there's love, there's music...

and dancing.

ah, youth...

new skin,

wide smiles,

clear eyes...

the future so bright.

if only we could bottle it up,

sip it now and again,

and stay forever twenty-one,

forever ten,

forever five.

[yours truly. age two.]

where have the years gone?

i hope you dance because...

time.

time is a wheel.

time is a wheel in constant motion

always rolling us along.

tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder...

and when you get the choice to sit it out our dance (as you well know)...

I HOPE YOU DANCE.

give the heavens above more that just a passing glance.

heaven (n.) : (1) a place somehow high above the clouds, yet deep inside your soul; (2) a place of complete peace, of total and utter joy; (3) a place that is greater than the sum of everything you will ever be or could ever imagine to be.

[peurto rico. june twenty-ten.]

when you come close to selling out, reconsider.

you

one worth so much

to me, to us, to life as such.

a bowl of cherries.

don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter.

there are too many people too angry at a world that isn't in the least bit angry at them.

loving might be a mistake, but it's worth making.

love, love, love.

you have to love.

and if you don't get love right,

you have to move on

and forgive.

and then you have to remember

that you've forgiven,

or else you can't move on.

and if you don't move on,

you'll surely end up

bitter.*

*see next post.

living might mean taking chances, but they're worth taking.

evolve.

take a chance,

take a ticket,

take a fast train to the coast.

no guts, no glory.

chance (n.) : a coin with two sides that one tosses into the air as many times as one wants. the odds remains the same.

it's risky breathing,

let alone needing,

trusting,

reaching out.

life is the leap of faith,

the bold declaration of

hope.

never settle for the path of least resistance.

that's too easy.

what follows is way too interesting.

i hope you never fear those mountains in the distance.

mountains and oceans.

seems like there's always another of one or the other...

it's crossing your fingers when the map doesn't make sense,

when the compass doesn't know truly north from truly lost;

and it's up to you -

you and your gut

and your mettle,

and your level of resilience,

and your wealth of wisdom -

to persevere.

to get to the other side.

to hope.

[thanks best friend for the beautiful picture].

and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance ... I HOPE YOU DANCE.

let the music move you,

let the moment take your hand,

let it lead you out into

the middle of the dance floor and

embrace you.

dive off the high board,

ride with the top down,

thrive like a wildflower,

and sing

(who cares what you sound like)

with a voice all your own.

promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance.

a promise is all about faith.

a promise is only as strong

as your own faith in your own self.

so when you swear,

in light of your strengths and in spite

of your weaknesses,

to struggle and follow through,

you are doing a beautiful thing.