The Meaning Behind My Favorite Song: Kenny Loggins' This is It

This Is It by Kenny Loggins (www.kennyloggins.com).

It is weird, but I have heard different messages at different moments of my life in the words of this song. Like most listeners, I have been immediately drawn into the rhythmic introduction followed by the slightest whisper of words:

"There have been times in my life
I've been wondering why...[??]"

If there was a hit counter on my memory, I would be amazed by the number of times I have thought, sung or heard these first few lines. Originally I may have heard it as a brat of a girl lost in unrequited love and romance maybe as the author intended:

"Still somehow I believed
We'd always survive..."

But as the "we" in my life turned to "me" this song played to my emotions in another way. It became a personal anthem, a call to courage to face the challenges in my life. The words mirrored the woman standing in the glass with the victor's chant. "This is it!" it declared. "I am a committed single mom; I will be a successful professional; I can finish college," I exclaimed. I declared that I would overcome alcoholism, betrayal trauma and self-doubt.

Then I heard the words again-this time as the lover in my life declined the invitation and we parted as friends.

"The moment is now
About to decide
Let him believe
Or leave him behind..."

I learned another tough lesson that no matter how much you believe [in yourself, your God, a dream, a truth], you cannot believe for another. That person has to answer that call individually. In spite of the road [I've been wondering why] and its obstacles, I continued to hear the victor's chant, "This Is It!" for what I believed and still believe to be the fight and delight of my life. I have realized that I only have one chance on earth and I have pledged myself to personal excellence and a passion for Jesus Christ. Recently, I discovered someone else felt the same way and used "my" anthem.

Check out Kirk Franklin's "Declaration (This Is It)" at http://www.kirkfranklin.us/.