Friday, January 29, 2016

Lessons I learned from Children and Dancing!

Yes, it's true - aside from the semester of Ballroom I took back in High School, I've never had dance lessons in my entire life! In fact, I once did a biography report in High School on Paula Abdul for a Women's Studies class and a friend of mine from another High School taught me one of Paula's dances. We were going to perform it together in class, at the end of my presentation. I froze up and forgot all the moves and my friend ended up dancing solo. 

Dancing is something I generally do in my kitchen, or in a crowd of fellow dancers (who also haven't had lessons). But truth be told, there's something about dancing that makes me feel so alive and have so much fun! In fact, I'm usually on a happiness high for hours following. Knowing that dancing is always sure to evoke laughter and burn calories, I don't understand why we all don't do it more often.

It's funny, if you've ever watched small children and noticed how they just don't care whether or not they are good at dancing (or singing), they do it anyways. When they hear music, they just dance - and it doesn't matter whose watching. As adults, for some reason we lose that confidence. We put up our guard and are a bit more hesitant to show the world our vulnerable side. We care what people think about us and want them to see our best side at all times. Afraid to step out of our shell and comfort zone, we end up missing out on a lot of opportunities to have fun. There's a lot we can learn from children -

  • Be confident in yourself no matter what.
  • Having fun keeps you young. 
  • Instead of finding the excuses not to do something, look for the excuses to DO it!
  • Even if you're the only one dancing, you know you're making someone smile.
  • It doesn't matter if you're off beat or out of sync, it only matters that you're having fun. 

This week for a Young Women youth activity at my church, we had a dance-off. All three age groups competed against each other. The YW president and I both laughed at how neither of us were dancers but that didn't stop us. Our cute Laurel class and us leaders choreographed this short little dance, and for only having 15 minutes to put it together, I think we rocked it!

So here's a fun tip for you. The next time you're feeling a little down, pick a fun song, get your camera out and film yourself dancing. You'll have so much fun watching it, even if you never show a soul! One thing is for certain - it WILL make you smile. If you're brave enough to share with others I'd love for you to post your videos on the Happy Lady facebook page - you never know whose day you might brighten and who you might inspire!


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