Song for 25

I've kind of always wanted a theme song. Be honest - you have, too.

And when I heard this song - "Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine - it pretty much spoke to me. I heard it for the first time a few weeks ago (I might be a smidgen behind the times in the music world; so sue me), and every time I've listened to it since, it's spoken to me all over again. I seriously just love it.

And well, with my birthday being yesterday (***side note: how cute is my husband with his sneaky birthday blog post?! I love him. Side note over***), and sort of coinciding with my discovery of this song, I decided that this shall be my theme song for my 26th year of life. So let it be written, so let it be done, henceforth and forever, with liberty and justice for all.

Give it a listen, friends:

(OH, bee-tee-dub, this link will take you to Spotify to listen to the song. If you don't have Spotify, get it. For reals. Free, legal, unlimited music streaming that you can use to make your own playlists and whatnot. Seriously. Get it.)

Florence + The Machine – Shake It Out

If you're holding out against Spotify (WHY?!), you can watch the music video here, if you're prepared to be a little freaked out by it. It's on the weird side. Ugh - music videos.

Okay, so now would you like to know why I'm making this my 25-year-old self's theme song? Well, it helps me remember:

-that I have to have to let go of regrets, past mistakes, old heartaches, grudges, and worries.

"And I've been a fool and I've been blind

I can never leave the past behind"

"I'm always dragging that horse around

Tonight I'm going to bury that horse in the ground"

-that holding on to those things hinders my ability to love others

"And I am done with my graceless heart

So tonight I'm going to cut it out and then restart"

-that holding on to those things hinders my own happiness and progression

"And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So shake him off"

-that moving on can be hard, and that looking for happiness means risking being unhappy. But it's worth it. 

"And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope

It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat

Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me

Looking for heaven, found the devil in me

Well what the hell - I'm gonna let it happen to me"

There are things in my life that I'm unhappy with. That's true for everyone, right? But you guys, I haven't been handling them right. I hold on to the bad stuff way too tightly. Too often, I think that everything has to be perfect for me to enjoy life, or for me to be happy. That's ridiculous, and it's going to stop now.

I won't stop learning from past lessons and mistakes, but I will let them go and allow myself to move on. I'll forgive and trust others. I'll open myself up more, even if it means risking getting hurt more. I'll realize that even though I'm not a perfect person (and never will be), and my life isn't perfect (and never will be), I can, and should, shake it off and be happy.

So that's my plan for the year. 25, baby!

(p.s. Excuse the use of the "h" word above. It's not a word that I use...ever, really...but it didn't seem right somehow to leave it out/change it.)