Life is short; I wanna live it well

One life, one story to tell

Life is short; I wanna live it well

And you’re the one I’m living for

Awaken all my soul

Every breath that you take is a miracle

Life is short; I wanna live it well, yeah

Over the weekend I went to a Switchfoot/Lifehouse show and man, was it incredible!  Each band brought something so unique and yet it was so united.  It was amazing to see and hear so many people, from all walks of life, standing and singing/shouting songs of unity, love, and hope.  No division.  Just the human race sharing and enjoying in a moment, an experience together.  And true to form, I cried through almost half of each set.  There is something about music in general that just moves the soul.  But there are certain songs from each band that just get me at my core.  Throw in some humans getting along and singing together… #jesisamess

Switchfoot takes me back to some good parts of my Jr High and High School years.  While I had vaguely known who they were, it was a close friend of mine that helped me cultivate a love for them.  Their music is fun and captivating.  Their lyrics eloquent and unknowingly deep at times (other times it just smacks you right in the face).  And while the song wasn’t in their set list, Jon Foreman sang the line a couple times “Hope is the anthem of my soul” and each time the words came out, it pierced me in such a good way.  I so need hope. I long for it.  And even in the times that I feel like I don’t want it, my soul is desperate for it.  I needed this night.  My soul needed this night.  My soul needed hope.  (Side note – the whole The Beautiful Letdown album holds a very special place in my heart and there isn’t one bad lyric or note on it.  Listen to it.)

Lifehouse was the band we might have been most excited for (although, for me, it might have been a toss up. I love them both.) because their earlier albums were the soundtracks to the time when my husband and I were engaged.  They played in the background of every drive, we would play them at home or when rehearsing for a set, and even had a song or two played at our wedding.  Their song You and Me is one of my and my sister’s songs (so, naturally, I sent her a clip of that one when they played it).  We love them as a band and the glimpse we saw of their hearts during their set, I’m sure we’d be great friends with them.  Then each band brought out the lead singer from the other band for a song and I about lost my mind both times.

There’s so much of this night that I cherish so deeply and so much that I am still processing.  The thing that I wanted to share most were the words at the top of the page.  The lyrics from Switchfoot’s Live It Well.  And if I may be so bold to say, I think every human, at the heart of who they are, wants to live life well.  People want to tell their story.  People want to be proud of themselves and have others be proud of them too.  Humans have a desire to be great ingrained in their DNA.  I think it’s a beautiful thing.  And everyone’s definition of “great” is a little different.  But I think we can all agree that it brings us joy when someone is proud of us or when someone thinks that we’re great.  Life is too short to not do our best.  Life is too short to not give our all.  Life is too short to not have that piece of chocolate cake.  Life is too short to not cheer each other on so that we all know that someone has our back, that someone is proud of us, that someone SEES us.  Everyone has a story to tell.  Listen to someone’s story.  Be brave and share your story.  Be brave and live your life well.

“I want to sing with all my heart a lifelong song
Even if some notes come out right and some come out wrong”

*All quoted song lyrics from Live It Well by Switchfoot