We Weren't Born to Follow

We weren't born to follow, come on and get up off your knees. When life is a bitter pill to swallow, you gotta hold on to what you believe. Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow and that your saints and sinners bleed. We weren't born to follow, you gotta stand up for what you believe...

This song, We Weren't Born to Follow, off The Circle CD had never been one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs. That changed quickly when it became my kids' absolute favorite. When Trevor was just barely four and Taryn was six, they could not get enough of it! They knew it by which disc position The Circle was in in my Jeep's CD changer, and by song number as well. "Mom, put on disc three song 1, and turn it up loud so we can rock out!" They asked for it that way EVERY time we got in the car. They learned all the words, and sang them loud and proud. At bedtime it became one Trevor's most requested lullabies. He asked for "Hush Little Baby", and "We Weren't Born to Follow" every single night. I sang it for a while, but had to stop allowing it. He had a hard time being lulled to sleep, even to my a capella version, because of the urge to stand up and rock the air guitar.

So, they went on over-requesting the song for months on end. I always kind of just endured it, which is rare for me and anything Bon Jovi. Then one day I heard my four year old's little voice singing it to himself while building with his Mega Blocks at the kitchen table, and I had a revelation! What a great message for him to be learning. At the age of four he is being reminded to stand up for what he believes, and to remember that no matter how dark his today might feel, that the sun will shine tomorrow.

Ok, I know he doesn't analyze it like that. He just enjoys "rocking it out", but the lyrics have become part of his inner monologue. I am happy to know that! Needless to say, We Weren't Born to Follow is now one of my favorites too!

This is Love, This is Life

Ohh, it’s gonna be alright. This is love, this is life. When times get tough we’re still worth the fight, This is love, this is life.

I have often said that I love Bon Jovi for the songs that are so full of truth and optimism. "This is Love,This is Life" makes me smile because it is a perfect example of that. Someone, or maybe many people, said that when people like you it's not for how they feel about YOU, but for how they feel about THEMSELVES when they are around you. That might not be true, but I think it is truth in regard to my Bon Jovi love.

Bon Jovi makes me feel pretty good about me. Not just because I sound awesome rocking out with Jon because my alto voice slides like butter into his perfect tenor keys, but also because their lyrics lift me up. They remind me that I am not alone. In the case of this song, they remind me that I am not the only one who feels like love is turning out to be a lot more work than I had bargained for. I mean, even Jon's Cinderella sometimes feels like she's stayed at the dance too long. (According to him, at least. I haven't heard her doing much complaining). I mean, if a mega-super-talented-rock-star-lyrical-genius with access to anything he could ever want or need still finds love to be a high maintenance task, then maybe it just IS. Maybe I don't have to obsess about what I should do differently or how I could be doing it better. Maybe I am just like the rest of the world, and the Apollo 13 mission, when it comes to love- a successful failure. Maybe no one does it perfectly. And if Jon doesn't feel like much of a price charming, (when I am completely convinced that he is), then maybe its OK for me to feel like I am not always coming through on being a proper princess. Maybe...

In all aspects of love...friendship, our children, our siblings and families, and with our Prince Charmings...we keep moving forward. Do better tomorrow than we did today. When times get tough, we're still worth the fight."

Rock on, friends! This is love, this is life!!

The road here’s paved with the brokenhearted, we gotta finish what we started. Ohhh, better hold on tight, This is love, this is life.

Love's The Only Rule

Flying like an aeorplane, crying like a lonely whistle from a long black train. Dance in the pouring rain, spit in the eye of a hurricane. Who says life has to be so cruel? Love's the only rule.

My lyrical highlight for this morning is on the song Love's the Only Rule. It, as a matter of fact is. Trevor is sick today, so we were unable to go to church, so I decided to let the lyrics take me to church. Metaphorically. (I know what you are thinking: Best.Church.Ever!!)

In the Old Testament there were a lot of rules. Rules about sacrifices, and rules about the Sabbath. Rules about what to eat and what not to. And, of course, there are the ten especially famous rules, The Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, when asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. That part isn't too hard, I mean God is perfect and amazing, and keeps us alive. Then he added another little detail, the second most important commandment which he said is like the first, love your neighbor as yourself. Yikes. It might be easier to follow a rule about never cutting my hair, or only eating with my left hand with a utensil made of pure silver! But those things don't matter to God. What matters is love.

So, why? Well, we don't hurt people when we love them. We don't gossip about them, and we don't ignore them. We don't cheat on our spouses, or abuse our children. We don't settle for doing just enough to get by because when we love we give our best. When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we don't make wars or enemies. More than that, we don't ignore those in need. We love them, and our love moves us to act on their behalf.

And of course, we can't love people if our hearts are not lost in love for God...so the first one has to be first so that it can bring about our ability to follow the second one! I am so not there yet! Maybe life is about striving to obey the greatest commandment well enough to obey the second greatest commandment. I wish that we all would try.

I love how jamming to Bon Jovi can serve as a reminder about what's what. :) You know that's good music!

Rock on friends! Love's the only rule!

Bon Jovial Jen

I am not crazy.  I am not carefree, and sadly, I am seldom passionate.  I am logical, rational, and rarely emotional.  Let me put it this way, I am a Math and Science teacher.  Enough said?  I have never been boy crazy, or celebrity crazy.  Never.  I mean, I had pictures of Corey Haim, from the Teen Beat magazines,tucked into the pocket of my Trapper Keeper back in the day, and my friend Andrea and I used to pretend that we were Daniel Laruso's love interest in the Karate Kid, but that was about it.  I think this is why the fact that I am totally and completely obsessed with Bon Jovi might be the most unusual thing about me.  And, as such, the one thing that kind of makes me interesting to myself. 

When I am submerged in Bon Jovi happiness, I call myself Bon Jovial Jen.  A name that I gave to myself at my third Bon Jovi concert.  One of my friends (who had never really been around me at a concert before) commented on how much she liked the me she was seeing at the concert, and I blurted out, "Oh, yeah? This is Bon Jovial Jen".  And just like that, my alter ego was born.  Bon Jovial Jen is me, without a care in the world.  She is free to be kind, funny, friendly, and lost in songs for three hours.  It is pure happiness! Bon Jovial Jen doesn't have to pay bills, cook dinner, or make lesson plans for school.  She just SINGS her heart out and reminisces about the past 27 years of memories with every song that plays!    

Many of my friends think that the excitement that I get out of seeing Bon Jovi in concert, or even just turning up the CD's really loud in my car, is insane.  Because of this I have been trying to look at my "Bonjoviality" objectively.  Here is what I have decided.  I literally love Bon Jovi, and it is quite possibly insane.  At the same time, it is also completely real.  I will cry if they ever stop making music.  I will cry if any of them die before me, and I may need to take a personal day or two.  (I could cry just thinking about it, so I have to move on to happier thoughts.)  I have shared my life with them, and through their lyrics, they have shared their lives with me.  Strangers yes, but familiar strangers. 

My first cassette in life was a Slippery When Wet tape that my friend, Tracey Daniels, gave to me to borrow in sixth grade and never got back.   :)   Music is my thing.  It is my happy place.  I love it, and Bon Jovi was my first real taste of what music could be.  That was in 1986.  Bon Jovi has been making music for me to rock out to when I am happy, or cry to when I am sad.  They had the ballads I could turn to when I was depressed about love, and the powerful songs about inner strength and perseverance that I could play when I needed someone to help me believe in myself.  I don't know them.  Any of them.  But the longest significant relationship of my lfie, outside of my family, and my faith in God has been with this band of brothers who's songs go straight from Jon's lips to my heart.  The lyrics are pretty much what I want life to be.  Absolutely down to earth, yet with an optimism that soars to the heavens.

One of my students, a twelve year old girl, was trying to explain to another twelve year old girl in her class how I feel about Bon Jovi.  She said, "Jon Bon Jovi is her Justin Bieber". 

I have been thinking about that comparison.  I understand what she was trying to say, but honestly...

...Justin Beiber wishes. 
   

"Map out your future - but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip." Jon Bon Jovi