Don't Dance So Fast

I heard this poem at a Relief Society activity a couple weeks ago where a lady came & talked to us who was having a hard time finding the joy in everyday motherhood a few years ago... That is, until she accidentally ran over her 3-year-old son, resulting in his death. Needless to say, this poem hit home for many of us young moms in the audience, hoping beyond hope that this could be a lesson we wouldn't have to learn the hard way...

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
Lapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow,
And in your hast, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
‘Cause you never had time
To call and say “hi”?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day
It is like an unopened gift...
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.