Aging Gracefully

I went to the ob-gyn doctor for a checkup since I was not feeling well. She did her "thing" and announced to me that "my insides were aging gracefully." This was nice to hear and I thought that I had never heard this type of pronouncement before. As always, I am going to relate this to ballroom dancing. You may be thinking as to how that can be. Here goes. Ballroom dancing helps us to age gracefully, not only in our bodies but in our minds. Everyone knows that you have to think in your mind before your feet can move gracefully.

When I first learned to ballroom dance, I always looked down at my feet and when the teacher said you cannot do that, I could not believe that one could dance and not look to see if their feet were moving the right way. Quickly, one realizes that they need not look at their feet to make them move. At first, you cannot believe that your feet can do that.

When we are watching Dancing With The Stars, all we see are bare upper chests or almost not covered upper chests in the male teachers or student. We see skimpy dresses on the students or female teachers. We see nude colored net covering certain spots and that is to make us think that is the real nudity.

I realize that asking the public to call in or text who their favorite dancer is, is done to include the public in the winning moments. The average public person is texting or calling in not for the most competent dancer, but for the popularity of the amateur partner. He or she may be a well known actor, sport personality or television celebrity. The public does not know the tough aspects of ballroom dance any more than I know a good football player or a fine golfer.

Just last week a competent amateur along with her professional teacher Mark Ballas was voted off. They certainly were scored by the professional judges with high marks;yet the public did not vote for them. This was a travesty of the dancing public voting system. It is not a popularity contest ,who is the best celebrity, it is a competition of who is the most admired dancer who is new to the dance world and has accomplished so much in a few weeks learning to ballroom dance.

Life is not a popularity contest, it is who is the most competent, who has studied hard in their profession and who deserves to be called a winner in anything there is out there to be judged.

I wrote an article once about a very fine doctor and submitted it to be published. The editor wanted only facts and not any opinion on my part or others who I interviewed about this fine doctor.The article was well written and showed how this capable and proficient lady had not only excelled in her medical profession; she also did forms of important volunteer work for the community. I wanted to explain to the reading public that this young woman combined her medical expertise with her volunteer abilities and the public in general profited by a person like her.

The editor I submitted it to wanted a strictly factual and plain article. I could not change it to those rules and still let it have the warmth and the honoring I wanted to shower this person with. It was not a popularity contest, it was a down right interesting article about a person who did good for the community.

So Dancing With The Stars has become a popularity contest rather than a program of honoring people who go out and learn to ballroom dance, some at advanced ages, others with sad personal disabilities and others who want to excel in something new.

I would like to see next year’s Dancing With The Stars to showcase admirable people trying a new hobby and a new addition to their mind and body.

Everything on television need not be a contest of sorts, it should be a declaration of a person’s new abilities and accomplishments.