Against the Wind

While vacationing last week, Tricia and I had the opportunity to kayak.  I've never really kayaked (is that a verb?) before.  It's a lot easier than canoeing, I thought.  It was so peaceful and relaxing.  With both of us paddling, it wasn't really work.  It was serene.  We just glided over the water, taking in the beautiful scenery.  One time, however, going over some rapids, we had to get out and carry it.

We quickly learned that you could paddle upstream but that you were going WITH the wind.  Conversely, you could paddle downstream, but you would be going AGAINST the wind.  It's hard going against the wind!  My wife and I have gotten to where we think exactly alike (on most things).  We remarked about going against the wind and we both immediately began singing Bob Seger's song, "Against the Wind."  We both laughed.  We're kind of strange like that.

But it got me thinking about that song.  What a great song.  I cut & pasted the lyrics below.  To me it is a song about changes - about the passage of time.  About relationships that once seemed so strong, but now are distant.  I love the line, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."  When you are young, you think things are hard, but often as you get older, things get harder.  It's a song about being young once and then growing old, searching, getting lost, being free and then finding yourself tied down by "deadlines and commitments." 

I think the message in the song is that you never give up.  It may not be easy, but you keep striving.  You keep running against the wind.  Here are the lyrics:

Seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in darkness with the radio playin low
And the secrets that we shared, mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
Til there was nothin left to burn and nothin left to prove

And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were runnin against the wind
We were young and strong we were runnin against the wind

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
Found myself further and further from my home and I
Guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was livin to run and runnin to live
Never worried about payin or even how much I owe 

Movin' eight miles a minute and for months at a time
Breakin all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin
Searchin for shelter again and again 

Against the wind
Little somethin against the wind
I found myself seekin shelter against the wind

Well those drifters days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out 

Against the wind
I'm still runnin against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin against the wind

Well I'm older now but still runnin against the wind

If you wish to listen to the song, you can click the arrow below:

We're older now, but still running against the wind...