I Can't Fight This Feeling

It's a rare song for which, after a long day, a workout, and a trip to the grocery store, I'm willing to sit in my car in my driveway to listen to it when it comes on just as I'm arriving at home. But this classic REO tune met that strict scrutiny test tonight:

I can't fight this feeling any longer.

And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow.

What started out as friendship,

Has grown stronger.

I only wish I had the strength to let it show.

I tell myself that I can't hold out forever.

I said there is no reason for my fear.

Cause I feel so secure when we're together.

You give my life direction,

You make everything so clear.

And even as I wander,

I'm keeping you in sight.

You're a candle in the window,

On a cold, dark winter's night.

And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might.

And I can't fight this feeling anymore.

I've forgotten what I started fighting for.

It's time to bring this ship into the shore,

And throw away the oars, forever...

And just for the record, I have, in fact, thrown away the oars. I was having lunch with a friend today, and telling him about my new(ish) relationship, and how as impractical as it seemed (with the distance and the timing) and as much as I felt in my mind that the right thing for us to do was to break up, it just didn't stick. "That's a really good sign," he said.

Yep. And as goofy as REO's metaphor is in some ways, I intend to enjoy life on the shore without the oars. Which to me means that I no longer need an escape hatch, and I'm really, really grateful for that. It opens up another whole realm of possibility...