It's about dancing in the rain....

There are moments in life that absolutely take your breath away. Sometimes it's a memory, or a place that you've been to before. Sometimes it's a song that takes you back to a specific memory or time in your life. And sometimes it's an old friend that you weren't expecting to hear from.

All of these things at one point or another have taken my breath away.

Although I live in a "big city", I find that my breath is taken away by the beauty of a Dallas sunset on a regular basis. And often times, as I'm driving to work with the sun rising, I'm reminded that I am a much smaller part of this world than I generally perceive myself to be.

My life has a soundtrack to it and often times, I'm stopped in my tracks by a song that takes me back to a certain summer or specific year of my life that makes me pause and think about where I was the first time I heard that particular song, or why that song means so much to me. I will forever remember being a little girl and listening to "In My Life" by the Beatles with my daddy. And then following that up with several years of singing it together at the top of our lungs. I will forever remember the moment "Crash" by Dave Matthews Band became one of the most important songs of my life, even if I never share with everyone why. I will always remember the night that I was introduced as Mrs. instead of Miss and twirled around the dance floor with the person I plan to spend the rest of my life with.

I will always remember the moment I watched a plane crash into the World Trade Center before heading to school my senior year. Although I was too naive and ignorant to grasp the ramifications of what was about to happen, I will always remember the feelings I had when those images were being shown on TV. And I will always remember my friend's faces as they too found out what had happened.

Today I was rendered breathless again, although I'll choose not to admit why. And it reminded me that those are the moments I live for. Whether they leave me feeling happy or sad doesn't matter, what matters is that my life is still being lived in moments that take my breath away.

Although memories, old friends, places and songs are not always the happiest of memories, I will continue to live my life hoping for moments that take my breath away because those are the moments that show us who we really are. That remind us that we are alive and that we are capable of loving, being loved, and showing emotion. Sure there are memories that we'd rather not remember, or songs that maybe hold a little too much memory for us, but in the end, life is about the journey. It's about the moments of sadness and happiness that come together to create a journey. A journey that lasts our lifetimes and continually takes turns that we never expect. So today, I'm thankful for the moments that take my breath away. Good, bad, and otherwise.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's learning to dance in the rain"