No 31. Changing Lives through Dancing
By David Earl Woodbury
Friday, July 31, 2015
The Brevity of Time!
The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady
resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who
succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance
of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time.
— W.J. Davison
Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else
expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard
master to yourself – and be lenient to everybody else.
— Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Presbyterian Minister
Time is short. I was at a Magnificent 7 party last Saturday for all the 21 great students who achieved 7 wonderful goals during International Dance Festival 2015. Joel and I planned the evening, sent out tons of emails, visited many places and finally decided on Rusty’s on the Santa Monica Pier. We danced to a great blues band and the food and drinks were wonderful.
There was one problem, it all went by too quickly. Joel and I showed up an hour early to set up, check in, order the food and prepare with drink tickets. The band was setting up. The weather on the pier was a perfect summer’s night over the Pacific Ocean. Then, everyone began to show up. Hugs, laughter, photos, food, fun, drinks all around. Wow, the first hour flew by!
Then this great band began to play. I love to dance to live music. It’s so much fun for me. We all began to dance and it was pure magic. I was taking lots of photos and I noticed on my phone that it was already 10:30. It took me a minute to realize that all this fun was passing so quickly.
Then, it was 11 and we had our last night of the evening. We said good night, gave all our hugs and we walked back to the studio where we had parked our car. It was a good long walk and a perfect night. I realized that it had been a great evening and everyone had fun and celebrated their part of the Magnificent 7.
Then I realized how fast it had passed. To tell the truth, Joel and I worked for an hour at the school, then went home only to rise at 5:15 AM. I was Team Leader for the 7:30 AM Mass and Joel was serving as well. The night had passed and it was now a glorious Sunday.
I realized that I must live in the moment, for time is flying all around us. One of our Mag 7 dancers came in and she had tears in her eyes when she told me that the evening had passed too quickly and that it was over so fast. I got teary eyes as well and we gave each other a big hug and a big smile.
Enjoy the moment:
No pleasure philosophy, no sensuality, no place nor power, no
material success can for a moment give such inner satisfaction as the
sense of living for good purposes, for maintenance of integrity, for
the preservation of self-approval.
— Minot Simons
Have Fun!
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks,
breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
— Mary Lou Cook
If life is calling to you, and your destiny is being unveiled before you, I beg you, step forward and join in life and join in the fun. We only go around once. Make each day count and love each moment and give away the joy of life.
Keep on Dancing!’
David Woodbury