I think this song's meaning is pretty obvious: When it gets too tough, just take what you learned - don't let it get you down - and just run away. It's kind of a cowardly way of life, but some people (like myself) just can't handle anymore pain, so they run. "Find out who you are before you are before you regret it because life is so short; there's no time to waste it" is basically Shirley's way of justifying the "running". She's basically saying, "Why sit around and put up with more pain when you could be moving on to find what you're looking for?". Beautiful song.
I think this song's meaning is pretty obvious: When it gets too tough, just take what you learned - don't let it get you down - and just run away. It's kind of a cowardly way of life, but some people (like myself) just can't handle anymore pain, so they run. "Find out who you are before you are before you regret it because life is so short; there's no time to waste it" is basically Shirley's way of justifying the "running". She's basically saying, "Why sit around and put up with more pain when you could be moving on to find what you're looking for?". Beautiful song.