"Dare You to Move" became somewhat of an anthem during mine and Erin's stint abroad in the Spring of 2004. Switchfoot had just released their album and manned with our mp3players(nope no iPods yet), we would literally listen to this song daily in our flat in Manchester. I remember being 20yrs old and listening to those lyrics over and over again...
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next
[Chorus]
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
[Chorus]
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before
Those 6 months in Europe breathed into me my first sense of global citizenship and personal reflection. As I sorted through my emotions during out travels, my first journal came about. Oh what those pages hold. It was I think my first real transformation into the person I am today and am still becoming. I was figuring out who I was and I'd be lying to say it wasn't a struggle. Many tears, many long conversations with Erin, many times trying to shield myself from the intense emotional rollercoaster I felt brewing. I was literally an overflowing jumble of highs and lows. As we galavanted through Italy, Interlaken, Dublin and more...there were moments I had never felt more alive or connected to something greater than myself. And I wanted that to last forever but those times were fleeting. It's as if the Universe gave me a peak into the future, allowing me to experience the joy of life's pure & authentic moments...but I still had much to learn, many hills to overcome with who I was and the person I wanted to be. As the song goes "the tension is here...between who you are and who you could be"...I felt so tied to that line. Literally caught within the stress of my own becoming. Wanting and not wanting to face reality at the same time. Compelled to keep pushing forward, that I knew for sure.
I feel so grateful for the ability to recognize the progression of myself as the years have gone by. Making moves! Taking chances! Doing what feels right in my gut. Being able to take stock in the things and daily life choices that make me the best Sarah I can be. The best friend. The best wife. The best daughter.
The road is long and the learning continues and I'm thankful today to be able to acknowledge and accept the journey with open arms.