Ya Gotta

“Listen as your day unfolds Challenge what the future holds Try and keep your head up to the sky Lovers, they may cause you tears Go ahead release your fears Stand up and be counted Don't be ashamed to cry You gotta be You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm You gotta stay together All I know, all I know, love will save the day Herald what your mother said Readin' the books your father read Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time Some may have more cash than you Others take a different view My oh my heh, hey…” This song is by the artist Des’ree called “You Gotta Be” I recently added it to my iPod even though it came out a few years back. If you could wear out a song on such a device…this song would be toast! The lyrics truly strike a chord (pun intended) to how we can equip ourselves for this life. We need to be tough on ourselves when we know we could have done better because we know better. The same with our loved ones. The problem however is finding the balance. You may have heard, “Hate the sin, Love the sinner” We can do that only if we can separate what people do, from who they are as people. We all make mistakes, it’s part of learning and finding our way. Tough does not mean wound. It means to stand firm in what we believe to be right and not back down. We need to stay cool in our marriage, with our families, and in friendships. We need to stay calm amid life’s storms. We need to be bold enough to extend forgiveness to someone that has hurt us very deeply, to free ourselves of the pain. I guarantee, that one of the hardest things we will do in this life will be to forgive someone that doesn’t deserve it. It takes tears, and all the strength we can muster, but it will free our souls, and we will be wiser for it. And love will save the day!