Sometime in 2011, I randomly heard the song, “Aguas de Marco.”

I immediately shazamed it, and have had it as a fixture on my playlist ever since.

The song’s in Portuguese, so I had no idea what the words meant. But somehow, the song felt like it made sense.

Last month, I finally listened to the English version, “Waters of March.”

What I understood from how the song felt in Portuguese was confirmed by what the song meant in English.

There’s a line in the song that runs me over: “the promise of spring.”

And really isn’t that what life is all about? 

The promise that something beautiful will sprout from the hardened ground of our lives.The promise of a reward for hard times. Seasons will change. The best is yet to come.

And all that is good and gravy, but what happens when spring actually comes?

What happens when you’re living the life you’ve dreamed, yet you see your dream as a nightmare?

I recently hung out with a couple of friends. Each of us living the lives we dreamed of, living the paths we planned for. 

Yet, we each stood there with personal burdens of discontentment.

We realized the startling gap between the hopes of our dreams and the reality of our dreams. 

We saw the wintriness of spring.

On a macro level, there are different spring seasons that we look forward to…marriage, children, a first home, a move to a new city.

On a micro level, our springs can be getting to the end of the day, getting to lunch, finishing a tough assignment at work.

We’re constantly looking forward to some promise that spring will fulfill. And I think holding on to that promise is necessary.

But, we ought to remember that “the promise of spring” is just one line in the song. And like the song, life isn’t just one line.

It’s many lines, many words. It’s many moments, many experiences beautifully pieced together to create the full song of our lives.

So I want a heart of contentment that hopes for what I have. I want to be encouraged that things will get better, but know that there is a measure of spring in my everyday, even in these last days of winter.

Hope this helps!
Ambini

P.s If you have a moment, click the links below and listen to the English and Portuguese versions of the song.

Aguas de Marco

Waters of March