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Don’t lose your way
with each passing day
You’ve come so far
Don’t throw it away

Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start

Live your story
Faith, hope and glory
Hold to the truth in your heart

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by, for you and I

Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end

Valley…Mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I

When we are out there in the dark
We’ll dream about the sun
In the dark we’ll feel the light
Warm our hearts…everyone

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I

———————————-

This is the end theme song from The Land Before Time and, as silly as it sounds, it’s a big step for me to make this post about it. Bear with me.

This song got me through literally every difficult situation I’ve faced for over a decade. I’ve been dumped, fired, broke. I’ve wanted to die, to break down and give up. But I would listen to her say “You’ve come so far, don’t throw it away.” And I would pick myself up and keep going.

Despite always turning to this song when I was at my worst, I could never get over one part of it — the ‘we.’ Who was ‘we?’ Was Diana Ross my friend? When I felt alone, focusing on some hypothetical ‘we’ just made me feel worse, so I basically ignored that part of the song until now.

Last year I started a job where I sit down and talk to clients one on one to teach them English. It often, however, ends up being much more than just an English lesson. They tell me about their hopes and fears — the people they have lost. The dreams they’ve had to give up on. It made me realize that I’m not the only one struggling and suffering. 

Of course I knew this before. I just never thought about it. My own problems seemed like the worst in the world. I never stopped to think that every single person I talk to or pass on the street has suffered, has lost something, and is fighting their own battles every day. The more I talk to my clients, the more I want to help them.

I was listening to this song this morning before work and I realized, out of nowhere, that the answer to ‘we’ was obvious.

‘We’ is everyone. Every other person on this planet that is trying to pick themselves back up. The rich, the poor, the famous, the unknown, everyone suffers in their own way and everyone experiences loss. We’re all in this together and we’re all holding on together.

 In 10 years, I only told a few people about my ‘relationship’ with this song. I felt that if I blurted out its special power, its magical ability to help me, that it would lose meaning — that it wouldn’t help me anymore. But this morning I realized that if ‘we’ is everyone, then there’s absolutely no reason to keep it to myself. 

So, everyone, I hope this song finds you well. If not, please let it pick you up and dust you off. It’s worked wonders for me.