BY BONNIE KEE STRUNK

Special to The Press

“I hope you dance.”

These words, from a favorite song by Lee Ann Womack, resonate with me.

She prefaces this lyric with sage advice: When we get the chance to sit it out or dance, she hopes we dance. I hope so, too.

Life is full of chances, and I think most of them are worth taking, even if they seem scary.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

Some days I do several!

Our lives can improve only if we dare to take chances.

If we don’t succeed, I don’t consider that a failure.

It should be viewed as a learning experience.

After I was widowed in my early 40s, I was determined never to marry again.

Yet, five and a half years later, I took a huge chance and did just that, scared as I was.

I was afraid of being widowed a second time, and indeed 25 years later, I was.

But if I had not taken the chance and remarried, I would have missed out on so much living, so many experiences and so many memories.

Sure, I could have made a mistake with a bad choice, but, cautious as I am, I did not.

I certainly cannot say that about some of the other chances I took in my life, especially when I was “young and dumb,” as one friend put it.

Now that I presumably am older and wiser, I look back with astonishment at some of the chances I took and choices I made.

But rarely do I regret having taken those chances in my life.

And why would regrets about past choices even matter today? Why dwell on mistakes we cannot change?

We will be much happier if we leave the past in the past and move forward.

We can learn from our mistakes, of course, and rise above them, but our focus is better spent on our lives right now and on the years yet to come.

We may have more mileage left than we think, so let’s make it a good ride.

Life is not easy. It comes with no guarantees.

Terrible things happen to all of us.

Being willing to take chances expands our world and opens up possibilities to new relationships and new activities that can add immeasurable quality to our lives.

A widowed friend in his late 80s takes lots of chances and has an exciting, fulfilling life.

This year he plans to travel to England, alone.

Wary neighbors warned him of imagined risks, but he is determined to undertake and enjoy this latest adventure.

Last year, he visited New Orleans, Florida and Idaho.

His bucket list is getting shorter, but it is far from completed.

Another widowed friend took a chance and reluctantly sold her home and moved to a retirement community.

She feared she would not be able to make new friends or would not like apartment living, but today she is grateful she was brave enough to take the chance. She has joined several active groups and loves both her apartment and her new neighbors.

This woman was open to new possibilities and made a scary but wise choice that enhanced her quality of life for the years she has remaining.

Another friend whose husband always did the driving took a chance and signed up for driving lessons in her 70s after she was widowed.

She conceded she was scared, but said she was more scared of having to depend on others every time she wanted to go somewhere.

All of life is a chance. So let’s not settle for the safe bet — the path of least resistance.

When the opportunity presents itself, be sure to get up and dance.