DON'T, AND I MEAN DON'T STOP BELIEVING

If there could be a theme song for inspiration, perhaps it would be the rock song by the group, Journey. Yes folks, I'm talking about "Don't Stop Believing". We've heard it on the radio, the whole song, bits and pieces on various TV shows and movies, here and there wherever we go. Its message of not giving up and catchy tune have led to it being the most downloaded song ever in the 20th century. When asked what they thought about being the most downloaded song, Jonathon Cain, one of the writers and group members said, "We did something right in the studio, we did something right when we wrote the song, we hit a chord."

It began with a germ of an idea of the keyboard player, Jonathon Cain. He said he was starving before he joined Journey, living in totally hard times, not knowing where his next pay-check was coming from. He was borrowing money from his father, who wouldn't let him come back home to Chicago. His father would always tell him to "stay there, something good is going to happen, don't stop believing". (I believe Cain may have been living in San Francisco at this time.)

Jonathon sat down one afternoon with a catchy chorus based on his father's advice, along with Neil Schon, the group's guitarist and Steve Perry, Journey's then lead singer and that same afternoon they had come up with what would become the rock and roll classic, "Don't Stop Believing". The rest is as they say, history. In 1981 when the song was released, it barely broke into the top ten. However, it's surpassed anything else on the billboard list with it that year.

Several times since, the band has broken up, going into hiatus or hibernation, which is usually a death knoll song for your group. But, thanks to this song the journey was not over for Journey. The group has gone through a variety of incarnations, one of the most interesting their current one. Since 2007, the band's lead singer has been Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, who became homeless after his mother's death. Arnel was discovered through YouTube, and replaced retired lead singer, Steve Perry. Arnel feels like the theme of "Don't Stop Believing" became his mantra to succeed. He has used his success with the band to give back to the underprivileged youth of his home country and formed a foundation to help with their health care, education, and advocacy.

So the next time you hear this song, you'll know the story behind it. The next time you want to give up, whether you've been encouraged or not - think of Jonathon Cain, who could have hitchhiked back to Chicago instead of writing what would become the most downloaded song or Arnel Pineda, who could have remained homeless instead of posting a video on YouTube that lead to success as a lead singer in a band. Our lives are filled with examples all around us of people who never gave up. Live the life God created you for. Don't give up. Don't stop believing there is something better for you.