I have a number of no-fail songs that always increase my heart rate and help me start a run. They tend to be fast-paced fun numbers that inspire me to at least start putting one foot in front of the other.
And then, the other day I started running to "Man in the Mirror." As a rule, I'm not a Michael Jackson fan, and this one definitely isn't the most spirited song in his oeuvre. It's got lyrics like "I see the kids in the street/With not enough to eat" and "They got nowhere else to go." It's...kind of sad, really. But it was the first song I heard when I popped on my iPod when I started my run, and I really listened to the lyrics for the first time.
Can I make a change? What do I need to do, and how can I go about doing it? I've been contemplating where I'm going and what I'm doing, and this is a song that, as hokey as it sounds, is actually forcing me to Think Big Thoughts.
It's also uncomfortable when you realize you need to change something in your life. It means maybe breaking old habits, or getting outside the comfort zone to try something new. It also means putting in a bit more effort, so that's time taken away from another project (like finishing a novel, or knitting for fun, or watching a movie). But it's something I need to do, and while the song's writer Siedah Garrett probably had loftier goals in mind, it was also something I needed to hear.
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