I used to be an accomplished ballroom dancer. I competed and I won. That sounds pretty confident, doesn’t it? Well, I took a break from ballroom and reentered the world of dance I was born into – ballet and jazz – and I tanked.
I called myself the Bad News Bear of Ballet – yes, that’s how bad I was when I first started, or started again. Imagine this at the barre – feet going backward when they’re supposed to go forward, body swaying when it’s supposed to be still. And then, there’s contemporary dance. Imagine this: my running for my life to get out of the way of those prima ballerinas who are leaping and jumping into my uncomfortable zone of “get me outta here!” Oh, what comic relief I must have provided to the patient ballet instructors who bit their tongues to keep a straight face. But I persevered. My once swaying and quivering body is now still at the barre. My feet know where to go with surprising precision. And, I’m getting stronger in Contemporary dance. I’m not star-quality by any stretch, but I’m better than I was a month, or even a week ago.
I had a Eureka moment at the last intermediate contemporary class that I took. This class was challenging and I was definitely out of my league. Throughout the class I wanted to cry out of humiliation. But, after the seemingly long hour, I told the instructor that I admired her choreography and that I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I actually left feeling successful – not because I mastered the chasse into a back attitude leap – but because I was out there trying. And through trying, I learned something about me and about dance. I did something that I hadn’t done the day before and that in itself was victorious – small as it may have been.
How many of us stay in our comfort zones of what we know because we’re afraid to venture out for fear of failing or making fools of ourselves? Let me ask this – when was the last time you grew by standing still?
My challenge to you is simple: get out there and try something you’ve been afraid to try for fear of failure. And then, no matter the outcome, celebrate the fact that you tried, and in that trying you took a huge step in defeating fear. And that in itself is victorious – small as it may seem.