I remember when I was younger, I went to a school for dance classes. My mother signed me up for jazz, but I wanted to do ballet classes instead so I was already a bit disappointed going into the class. The other little girls in that class knew each other and had been practicing dance longer than I had. They had already formed their little cliques. They had no qualms with making sure I knew I was an outsider and I wasn’t welcome.
It was miserable.
I begged my mother to let me quit. She did. She was disappointed though, and I had to hear about it so many times from her in my life. When I quit Marching Band and Basketball she needled me with the comment that “you can’t be a quitter”. I didn’t know why she cared so much.
I thought life was about learning and growing through experiences and finding out what worked for us and what didn’t. I didn’t know why I was being judged for trying something, and not liking it.
Life is a journey not a race, and life has so many dances and moves that we have to make for ourselves.
We may have people in our lives encouraging us along the way, but ultimately we walk our own paths. We make our own choices, and we must decide which dance we choose. I choose to dance in the direction of my dreams even if people don’t fully understand that.
That’s okay. It’s my life to live and my dance to dance, and the only person it has to make sense to is me. I’m going to take the time to dance in all the ways that heal and restore my soul. In all the ways that make me harmonious with the universe. Because life’s too short to be what people tell you what you need to be.
Be bold enough to do your own dance, your soul just may thank you for it.
The Pine Cone Review 