This is It

Reluctantly, I roll out of bed and realize it's Thursday and not Friday. Groaning, I create a tiny inner cheerleader who in a pompom waving frenzy chants, "Get up! Get up! The d---a---y awa--its y--o---u u u!"
I imagine loading a shot gun and taking aim while the cheerleader jumps out of the picture. I groan again, get up and stagger toward the shower. While the water warms and my eyes blink in the light, I hear, "Surrender. Surrender."
I groan again. If it were only that simple.

Lately, I've been lost in layers of emotions. Grief and relief are partners. They spin around my head like a pair of mismatched dancers. I watch frozen in disbelief. My family has fought to gain some of my attention but I've been a thousand miles away. I see their lips moving but I don't know what they are saying.

Again, I groan. I could use a vacation, some where warm and sunny, in a land of few worries. That is not an option. The words "Surrender Dorothy" float by like a banner pulled behind a biplane. Wait, the shower isn't over yet. Kenny Loggins voice breaks into the biplane scene. He sings, "This is it! Your back's to the corner. This is it. Don't be a fool any more. No room to run. No where to hide."
Stopping myself in mid groan, I realize that Loggins has nailed it.

Good, bad or indifferent, "This is it."
The uplifting melody carried me through my morning ritual. I sit at the breakfast table pen in hand. The wicked witch from Wizard of Oz flies across my mind writing "Surrender, Dorothy" with the smoke streaming behind her broom. I stare up at the words. Behind me, the disembodied voice of Loggins sings, "This is it. You're going no further."

I have a day to get through, people to help, a family to love, a life to rise to. Wishing this life were something else won't change a moment of it. Time to face the music. "This is it, Loggins. I'm right behind you."

This is it

There have been times in my life
I've been wondering why
Still somehow I believed
We'd always survive
Now I'm not so sure
You're waiting to hear
One good reason to try
But what more can I say
What's left to provide
You think that maybe it's over
Only if you want it to be
Are you gonna wait for your sign, your
miracle
Stand up and fight
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
Your back's to the corner
This is it
Don't be a fool anymore
This is it
The waiting is over
No room to run
No way to hide
No time for wondering why
It's here
The moment is now
About to decide
Let him believe
Or leave him behind
But keep me near in your heart
And know, whatever you do
I'm here by your side
You said that maybe it's over
Not if you don't want it to be
For once in your life, here's your miracle
Stand up and fight
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
No one can tell you what you know
Who makes the choice of how it goes
It's not up to me this time
You know
There comes a day in every life
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
This is it
One way or another
This is it
No one can tell what the future holds
This is it
Your back's to the corner
This is it
You make the choice of how it goes
This is it
The waiting is over
This is it
No one can tell what the future holds
This is it
You're going no further