Sing, Sing a Song

When I was about eleven or twelve years old, I remember hearing a song playing on the radio, and I was captivated by the voice I heard, which seemed to me somehow perfect. I hurried through to my parent's bedroom and lay on the bed and listened, spell bound. I found out that I was listening to the Carpenters and how I loved Karen Carpenter's voice. The Carpenter's songs gave me comfort over some tough times and I would later listen to their music for hours, over and over. I was saddened when I found out Karen Carpenter had died, which must have been only a short while before I discovered her singing. I became a collector of most of their CDs and records and knew most songs by heart.

One of the songs I enjoyed listening to was “Sing, Sing a Song”. The song, “Sing”, says to sing even if what you may sing is not good enough for anyone else to hear. How often do we listen to the opinions or advice of other people who tell us, for example, that we can't sing, or that we will never be good at something? Or we may tell ourselves this, not believing in our own abilities. Imagine if Karen Carpenter had decided not to sing because she was told she would never be successful or that she could not sing well enough? I am sure there may have been some detractors telling her this. Yet, the Carpenters were a very successful group. They might not have been liked by some people, but there were plenty of other people who did like them, millions in fact, including me, a teenager who loved their music when others my age were listening to a range of what would have been considered more suitable music for teenagers. Would Karen Carpenter have been a singer even if she thought she would never become world renowned? I am sure she would have carried on singing still, perhaps in a church or in smoke filled bars or at home alone.

Not everyone who sets out to be a singer may achieve any measure of success or become world famous, but the key is to follow your heart and do what you love to do and to do so in spite of opposition. We cannot know the path that lies ahead, we can only carry on walking down the road hoping we are aiming in the right direction. Use your God-given gifts with abandon and do what you love to do: Sing with joy. Paint with passion. Dance with merriment. Maybe you will be successful. Maybe you won't. You will certainly be happier when there is alignment between who you are and what you do and when you find and live your purpose. Be yourself.