Play that Tune

Summertime in Northern Michigan is a special thing.  I grew up coming here, but didn’t appreciate the luxury of it until I was older.  Despite the chaos of the world, it’s one of those places that remains delightfully frozen in time.  Simple pleasures like riding bikes into town for ice-cream, catching up with old friends, boat rides, and making s’mores hold as much joy for the old, as they do the young.  When the hardest decision you have to make is which side of the porch am I going to sit on today?, you know life is pretty darn good. 

This morning, I woke-up to an overcast day and a large barge anchored not too far off shore.  I can hardly complain as this place was probably due an eyesore.  Nonetheless, it’s not the norm.  I’m not sure where it came from and I don’t know how long it will stay, but for the time it’s here, I have a new view.  My want to wish it away has turned into curiosity about its purpose.  I think that’s how it is when life happens: we either stew in despondence over the thing we don’t want to be true or we open ourselves up to seeing what it has to offer.  Often, we go back and forth between the two.     

Thinking about change and the thin line we walk between resistance and acceptance, I went for my usual morning run.  As I was trotting along, a cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” started to play.  The lyrics filled me with an unexpected ease: 

Don't worry about a thing 
’Cause every little thing gonna be alright 
Singing' don't worry about a thing ‘
Cause every little thing gonna be alright

I’ve been singing that tune all day long.  It’s a great reminder when life challenges us to let go of what was and learn how to embrace what is.  Whether that’s holding onto summer because you’re not ready for fall, seeing your child off to college, nursing a broken heart, uncertain of a choice you made or the one you didn’t…it’s all going to be alright.  The song is easy enough to find and your peace is worth the listen.