Run For Your Goals And Open Them Up To Your Heart

Do not fear learning at any age, look forward to this new activity with great and exciting thoughts. A whole new world will open up to your heart, soul and mind and you will experience something so fabulous, that you will wonder why you waited so long to learn ballroom dancing and you will be stimulated and energized. I promise you this will happen. You accomplish that many splendored thing mentioned in the movie of that title and you will have done better than you had even perceived you would. You will now know that splendored moment and all new moments will be of splendid dancing. All these suggestions can be used with other hobbies too. I am sure learning to play tennis or golf or any other sport may provide the same difficulty at the beginning. Just remember, “You can and will do better” and do not give up if some complications occur. Henry Ward Beecher said “God’s errands and trainers, and only through them can one come to the fullness of manhood (and womanhood).” This means no matter how arduous some lessons may appear; the following week, it will stream through to your brain and you will smile with such a grin, because you are a winner and you learned it well. You did better and you are superior for this accomplishment. This is my commitment to you. Henry mentioned above said “A book is good company. It is full of conversation without loquacity. It comes to your longing with full instructions but pursues you never.” You could say that about dancing because dancing never pursues you; you pursue it. It depends how much a thrill dancing gives to you. At first, it is a surely a chore. A chore you chose a chore you want to excel with, a chore with great rewards. It is also good company because you are constantly learning, you are continuing at its goal even when you think you cannot accomplish what you want. You may have longed for it, you may have desired it and yet you never gave into that thought until now. Now you may be older, more secure in your finances that you want to spend money to finally do this hobby. He also said that “books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a home.” There is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes your mind and body. Dancing is made up of using your mind, using your feet and arms and most of all, using your competent powers to be excellent at something different in your life. When I was fourteen we moved into our new apartment in 1948, I have related this before in another column. On the first floor, there was a ballet school run by Mrs. Gniadowski. She always had these classes of little girls about nine or ten years old and she graciously taught them ballet. She did not holler, coerce or put them down. She always had a smile on her face , because she loved what she was doing and it showed in the smiling faces of these children. She was not like that dance teacher on cable TV that hollers, coerces, forces and intimidates her students. Mrs. G had been an up and coming ballerina herself and gave it up to marry and have two children of her own. She was patient and these little girls who probably have little girls of their own surely remember her delightful teaching methods. That is what you should look for in a ballroom dancing teacher now. One who is gracious, smart, endearing and who will encourage you to be yourself and to enjoy this new adventure. Cyndi from upstate New York informed me that when she started to take dance lessons about five years ago, she was forty-three like I was. Her teacher was a male who was always making fun of the way the class reacted to the lessons. A few remained and a few new ones joined, so the class had now about eight members. One day, the obnoxious teacher said to all of them “if you do not want to learn, stay home and read a book.” An older man about sixty something replied to him “a book will be comforting, more decent and most of all will encourage us to turn the page. You, sir, and I call you that because even though you do not deserve to be spoken to courteously, should read a book yourself on how to talk to people and how to respect them.” The teacher was shocked that someone would talk back to him and he replied “you sir do deserve respect. I shall change my ways. Thank you for being brave enough to show me the way.” From that day forward, the class learned at a pleasurable pace, they had fun and the teacher himself seemed to blossom into a fine person of instruction. He no longer put them down; he lifted them up to accomplish this new thing they were hoping to love. So when you go out and try this marvelous hobby I advocate so highly, reach for the furniture bookcase to hold your dancing shoes, your dancing instruction books, your cassettes you may have taped the lessons on for the audio, your spaces for maybe some trophies or ribbons you may win or earn and most of all pictures of you smiling as you dance. The bookcase will be smiling itself and proud to be in your home. Once a few years ago , on the elimination of one dancing couple on the television show Dancing With The Stars, Sherri Shepherd and her dance teacher were eliminated. The tears streamed down her face and she said “run toward that which scares you the most and run towards the other side.” This is a remarkable assessment of trying to accomplish something and then she is voted off and her saying this shows the power of her dance emotions. These words are a beautiful inspiration and can be applied towards anything we try to do at any age. When we feel strongly about something and it can be dancing as in her feeling this tonight, it can be any other hobby we try, it can be our job, it can be with our children, and running towards it can be a marathon of love and life. When I was eighteen, I obtained a new job, started on a Friday and by the time I left to go home at five p.m. that day, I was thinking about quitting it at once. I told Meyer the owner and boss that it was too much to learn, the outgoing girl in training me that day threw everything she knew about the work into eight hours of learning. She had been employed there for six years and this was her one day way of training me for her position. She was getting married in two days and she was finished with this job. I was her successor and she did her best to teach me, but she did not know the technique too well on instruction. I said to Meyer, “it was too much and I would never master it like Judy had done.” He said “you will be better than she ever was, wait and see and give it a chance.” So being the wise eighteen year old I was and needing a job a whole lot, I persevered and wound up staying there for eight years and left after I married and you know what? I was better than she had been, smarter, kinder and more receptive to innovative happenings, there way back in 1952-1960 and when I left in July of 1960, I had contributed an amazing amount of myself and my ideas into the company. I can say modestly that I was better than Judy and I had been promoted in position many times in the eight years of work because I deserved it. So I ran toward the thing that scared me, overcame the fear and became a success rising from a young girl in an office to assistant to an important CEO of a major company. I listened to the boss and my life changed from that moment on. I was important, I loved this job, I met my husband through an employee there (I wrote about this in another article recently) and most of all I did not stop. Sherri Shepherd made a relevant, interesting and heartwarming comment as the tears streamed down her face in disappointment. She need not have felt disillusionment or disenchantment because her performances were excellent and she danced adequately and performed in a satisfactory manner for being new at this in the short time they have to digest all the steps, movements, smiling and knowledge. We can all take courage from this statement and try our best to run toward the thing that scares us and in so doing we will have enhanced our life with the results. We are a winner and nobody can take that away from us ever. Run, do not walk towards your goals and your goals will become your winning moments. My friends in Washington State, Ikuko and Steven Behr are going again next month to Hawaii for his 32nd year to teach ballroom dancing. He goes every year and besides teaching, give ballroom dancing performances while there with her. This is about her 3rd year dancing with him. His other partner past away a few years ago at over 90. As they said in the letter to me “A Hui Hou-until we meet again” and while they will be in Hawaii, I should share with them the “mana” (spirit) with their Hawaiian group of friends-their “ohama” (family); Run, do not walk to the mana (spirit) and also towards ohama (family) and you will be on the other glorious side which surely will be a link of and to love. elita sohmer clayman