SLOW DANCE
(Anonymous author - Possibly written by a six year old girl with terminal cancer in a New York Hospital)
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
One of my friends is recently going through some very hard trials for her, her daughter and her family, and it's really given me lots of opportunity to reflect on Tristan. On my trials with her, and the trials we face in the future. I have had the opportunity to read back through my journal entries from her most recent heart surgery and read and laugh and cry at the silly things that happened. I looked at the pictures I had taken on my phone, not realizing that I never even posted pictures of that time here on my blog.
I guess we got through it and we were so quick to move on, that I never took the time to re-cap her story, put closure to that chapter with her pictures, and start a fresh page for the next go-around. I read this poem online today, and honestly, the part that I found most touching to me today, is that part about putting off our kids until tomorrow, not seeing their sorrow. I wish more than anything, when a child of mine asks if we can do a special activity, I could say YES, and let dinner wait, and let the laundry wait, and that the crying babies would cooperate. YES, I want to play with aquasand and playdough too! Yes, I want to win at candyland and fill up the coloring books. So why do I not spend more time doing these simple little things with my children when they ask? Why is it so easy to get tangled up in the everydays, and so hard to see the sorrow in their eyes?
I don't know what Tristan's future holds for her, I hope everyday for the best possible life for her, yet a little sliver of me is prepared to do it all again on a moment's notice. So I try to love my children a little more, and let them mix the brownies (even though it tears me up inside to relenquish such responsiblity to a 3 year old).
I hope that we'll all slow down and take a look at our life, and be thankful for the many wonderful things we have, for the wonderful people around us, and know that our trials help us to be stronger, and they also enable us to be stronger for those around us.
