The Afterglow

The mountains move
and the thunder rolls
but now the earthquake
is a gentle force
that frees our souls
and i'm with you
here in the afterglow
--The Bellamy Brothers, Afterglow

I will never forget the first time I heard this song. It was this January during my last semester of college. The song poured out from the speakers in Anna Hiss gym. Sunlight streamed down through the frosted windows in the ceiling, as dancers glided across the floor. It was the first time I set foot into my ballroom dance class. It was only the second time in college I was ever truly alone. I knew no one in the class. I had just broken up with my boyfriend of three years. It was the first semester in college we had ever spent apart.

The last time I was ever completely alone in college was my very first semester there. Starting a new semester without him was completely unknown to me. I remember that moment distinctly. It was certainly one of the defining moments in my life. I remember the tears welling up in my eyes as yet another love song played on in the background. I wanted to cry. But I didn't. I got up, and I danced.

So what started out as a gut-wrenching song, slowly progressed to be the theme song of my last semester at UT. "The earthquake" did become a gentle force. It was the most difficult year of my life. It would have been easy to go running back to something so familiar to me. In retrospect, if I had, I wouldn't be who I am today. I'm much stronger than I had ever imagined I'd be, wiser than I had ever wanted to be. Independent beyond my wildest dreams.

Having not heard this song for quite some time, it pleasantly surprised me when it came up on an old CD I had resurrected. It definitely brought me back, listening to this. I realized that if I could make it through that crash, I could make it through anything.

Have you ever taken the time to sit back and look at the people around you? I mean, really look at the people around you? If you ever have, you might come to this realization: people are amazing. As Helen likes to say, resillient. In every sense of the word.

We crash, we burn, and yet through it all, we get up again. What seems impossible one day is a reality the next. In life, you are taught to play the hand you are dealt. But honestly, as in poker, and as in life, anything is possible.