To get started, my name is Karley Canova. I am a junior at Francis Howell Central, and a staff reporter for the school newspaper. My blog is going to be centered around my own personal reflection or analysis on selected lyrics from a song of my choice. I will more than likely be jumping around through genres. That means anything from death metal, to country, or whatever else I feel like making commentary on. This week, I chose to reflect on a song by the band Skillet. It’s titled “One Day Too Late.” This song comes from the album Awake, which was released August 25, 2009.

“Today, I’m gonna love my enemies
Reach out to somebody who needs me
Make a change, make the world a better place
‘Cause tomorrow could be one day too late
One day too late, one day too late.”

The overall theme of this song is, in my opinion, pretty cliche. People constantly remind others that life is short, live it to the fullest. Well, I am certainly not talking down on that. It is the fact that, no matter how many times people hear this, they do not truly apply it to their lives. It is saddening that a lot of us complain about how “the world sucks,” but do not try and fix it. You do not even have to go out and donate billions of dollars to an organization for the hungry. It’s simple things, like “[reaching] out to somebody who needs [you].” You can make it better. You can simply forgive and move on, instead of dwelling on things that weigh you down. Don’t tell me you cannot. If it is so simple, why is it so hard for us to be happy?

“Tick tock, hear my life pass by
I can’t erase and I can’t rewind
Of all the things I regret the most I do
Wish I’d spent more time with you.”

You cannot go back to your past and change things up. Sorry, but time travel does not exist, even if you think it does. You cannot just ignore these things. You have to face them—and yes, you can. But if it is too late, or you have done all that you can, then that is it. You just move on. Change the things that you know you can, and accept that which you cannot. That is when you forgive. I read a quote once, by Lily Tomlin, that read “Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.”

“Here’s my chance for a new beginning
I saved the best for a better ending
In the end I’ll make it up to you
You’ll see, you’ll get the very best of me.”

Lastly, when you move on, you are starting over. You are being better than your past. You are making corrections. You are learning. However, one thing that I do not like about this last part of the selected lyrics, is that it focuses on “I’ll make it up to you; You’ll see, you’ll get the very best of me.” Personally, I do not believe that doing things for other people works very well. If something happens to that person or you simply drift, that motivation will also fade. Make sure you are doing things for yourself, so that you will always have that one thing to keep you going.