A Fantastic Number One Feeling Knowing You Indeed Were Always Number One Elita Sohmer Clayman

Sometimes when we plan an event like a wedding, shower, vacation, things happen and it is hard to get there on time. The same situation can happen if we go to a dance competition. A few of them on the East Coast are held in February. One recent year, we had so much snow before the scheduled February date that the organizers of the competition decided to postpone it until April. They had to notify all the participants via email that they were closing down the February date. Airline tickets were changed, vacations that were going to be taken for the time at the competition by many competitors were rescheduled,  baby sitters who were going to take care of the children of the dancers had to be changed and many  changes occurred. I thought it quite risky when I heard this competition was going to be put on in early February, that it was quite a careless decision on the part of the organizer because the East Coast snow is very unpredictable and can come on without hardly any notice, even though we have such Dopper Radar equipment and lots of computers and every meteorologist is quite educated in this event called snow.

 I know people who were going to drive the two to three hours from their home to the competition and they were quite leery to start out driving and maybe be involved in terrible amounts of heavy snow and be in a strange place, when it happened or on the crowded roads. Some that I knew decided three months in advance not to take a chance and be involved in a heavy and dangerous storm  happening a day or even days before the  event. They would lose their hotel pre payments on their rooms and have to take their vacations from work because they were scheduled to be off. So they backed out of participating in winter competitions and opted for dancing in fall, summer or spring events.

Once I went to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to compete in a competition and I did and on the way home which was about three hours, we got stuck in a terrible rain storm. We could barely see to even pull off the road in strange areas and it took us almost double the time to travel. It was a horrendous experience and very terrifying and of course, dangerous. When we got home, I vowed never go too far in a car for another dance situation.  It is not worth the inconvenience, the traffic, the accidents that could or would happen and most of all our sanity in driving through down pouring rain and our safety.

Bliss is wonderful, but accidents occurring because of dancing locations and our trying to get there regardless of weather reports, because we have so much money invested in extra lessons and training are not worth the final and maybe bad consequences. An accident causing major health problems, destruction to our vehicle and to our bodies and lots of anxiety is not worth the satisfaction, we may receive in participation. After the terrible rain situation, I no longer looked into competitions that maybe could get me involved in something like that. Rain is bad enough, but heavy snow would be a detriment to my choosing such a weather controlled situation.

Now at this senior age, I would only choose a dance location not too far from my home and a month or months of usually decent weather. There are many dance competitions not far from my home, maybe an hour or two or three and at this age, they are quite adequate for me or for other seniors.

I have had my day in the sun with traveling to them in Florida, Kansas, Virginia and New Jersey. I stick close to home now with thinking of competing in Virginia which is ninety minutes from me, Maryland which is less than that and possibly Philadelphia which is two hours from my home location. You can get a dance locale, just as easily closer to you than one needing an airplane ride or a bad weather trip in wintertime.

Choose your competition locales with all this in mind, so you need not have pre dance worries and you become so stressed out, you change your mind and lose lots of hard earned money

I am going to go, hopefully, to one next June here in my hometown which is approximately two miles from my home in a big hotel with a nice dance floor, a fine judging panel, good music to dance to and most of all no outlaying of money for hotel rooms. You cannot ask for more than that and that is my goal here in June for next June.  I will start training for it at the beginning of next year January 2013 and guess what? The teacher’s studio where I will train is also about one and half miles from my home. I could not ask or choose a better combination of learning, participating and be involving in something special like a dance competition close to home. I know this is unusual to be so close to learning and doing, but it is a nice thought. The name of the studio here is Studio DNA and it is run by a fine and qualified dance teacher and owner named John Dawson.

So here goes a dance event made to order for me, a seventy-eight year old active adult senior and I am getting joy thinking about next January and my restarting my dance activity after being out of it as far as competition and lessons, for about it with lessons since 2005 and from competitions and competition training since 1992. Wow, a long time, but there is still time for me to try again. If we try something, we are not losers, if we do not try, then we are automatic losers. We have lost the desire to become something more than we are now; and losing desire, anticipation, courage and faith in our self does not let our mind equal our hopes. Hope is eternal and we should always factor hope into our lives, regardless of our, what I call, now age. Our now age is still viable and we are still full of vim, vigor and  vitality and we should go about encouraging our self to let it grow and continue on as long as is possible.

We will be winners at anything we try to accomplish and whatever it is we attempt, we are have won first place in our mind and body and first place is always first place in our hearts.

This theme can apply to anything we want to try that is new to us. There may be some hobbies we desire to learn, some sports we may want to learn, some books we may want to read, some vacation cities we want to visit, and even some foreign countries we want to visit. We can try to gather the strength to accomplish this. We may now have the money to afford these dreams; but we think we cannot do it because of aching bodies, walking slower or being somewhat incapacitated. Mom went to Israel for a long and hard two week trip when she was about seventy-two. It was a difficult and tiresome trip, but it was her and Dad’s dream to get there once in their lifetime. Dad passed on before achieving this long time dream and Mom wanted to do it for her and him. She was taken care of on the trip by the Rabbi who was the tour leader and his darling and kind wife. It was hard for her to do so much walking, but some days, she stayed behind while the group did that and on other days, she went with them and even though she was exhausted afterwards; she felt good in her mind and soul that she had tried and conquered her fear and had seen and done what she always wanted to do.

We can all take a lesson from her and at least attempt to do something we have wanted to accomplish and perhaps we will succeed at this undertaking.

When we realize that trying is half the battle and we are surrounded by people who believe in our dreams, then the dreams become a now reality. We are richer for the fact that we wanted to try, we did do it and best of all, we fulfilled and achieved something that was a great consummation to us.

Some people want to skydive one time in their life, others want to go skiing, others plan on hiking somewhere in a foreign country, others like me want to win one more award or trophy in a ballroom dancing competition. I have been to many foreign countries and Hawaii and so my travel days are over. I want the thrill of one more dance experience with my dance coach and one more time hearing my name called as a first, second or third place winner. That will be music (dance music) to my ears and bring joy and a thrilling moment in this seventy-eight year old life. I have lots of trophies and medals; but I have the need to show that I can still do it at this advanced age.

Then I will be feeling complete and even may find it easier than I think it will be and perhaps, go and try another year too. Whatever you think you want to experience during the rest of your life, do it soon and soon you will be a winner again and the exhilaration will extend from your mind to your toes. You in your heart always knew you were a titleholder in some sport, hobby or competition and now you will have proof that you are number one and always were and will always be and that is a fantastic number one feeling.