Daylight

I’ve had the song Daylight by Taylor Swift stuck in my head all week long. You know how it is when you get a good song stuck in your head - you play it over and over and over again a billion times, listen closely to the words, and think about moment in your life that is best represented by the lyrics. Well, at least I do… and I can’t be the only one, right?

As I was listening to the words of Daylight during one of my billion listens this week, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a cold weekend in March 2016 when Alex and I took a spontaneous weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, SC…

I don’t know about you, but for me, there is something so soothing about the ocean - and I’m not much of a beach bum; I don’t get a lot of enjoyment from sitting on the beach for hours and hours. That being said, the sound of the ocean is one of my favorite sounds. It’s relaxing, refreshing, and just what I need when I have to mentally and/or emotionally reset. So I try to find time every now and again to get out to the beach to listen to waves crash against the shore while I breathe in the ocean air.

We stayed oceanfront that cold March night in Myrtle Beach. I remember cracking the patio door before we went to bed so we could hear the sound of the waves as we fell asleep. We set our alarms for the crack of dawn so we could get up with the sun and take in a classic beach sunrise. And I love, love, love a good beach sunrise.

The sunrise that next morning was absolutely picture perfect and worth every ounce of grumpy effort it took to get out of bed. I mean…

The older I get, the more I’ve learned to appreciate what the morning represents. Morning is a new page and new chance to embrace the present moment and leave the past in the past. The darkness from yesterday has become the daylight of today. And in the daylight of today, you have the ability to turn wrongs into rights, to forgive past mistakes, and to make new memories to fuel bright, happy moments with the people you love.

Life has a funny way of teaching you lessons when you least expect it. And quite honestly, sometimes life’s lessons turn out to be simple. I think of this lyric from Daylight to summarize the lessons I’ve learned about love, regret, and forgiveness: