Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Been thinking about the words to that song lately for some strange reason. Funny that that simple childhood song could be so meaningful to an adult, if we would only think about those words.  We used to sing it in grade school or with my sisters, in rounds.  Finding so much fun in seeing how long we could make it go on before we broke apart in laughter and giggles. 

But even that childish process is so much like life itself.  Each one of us rowing our singular boat; all together; same water, same stream.  But we are highly likely to bump into each other, try to out do each other, win some sort of race with others and cause general chaos.  Unfortunately, we get really good at looking into our neighbor’s boat to see if its better, or faster, or prettier or just plain different from our boat which somehow makes it more desirable. We just might be able to move ahead faster if we have a different boat and win that proverbial race, and do it with a better looking boat.

I am trying to keep my head in my own boat these days and row more gently down that stream;  no more shoulder cruising; no more comparisons and no more competition.  What were the rest of those words?  “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream”.