Leave the Rest to Fate!

No 43. Changing Lives through Dancing
By David Earl Woodbury

Friday, October 23, 2015

Leave the Rest to Fate!

“But try,” you urge, “the trying shall suffice; The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life: Try to be Shakespeare, leave the rest to fate!”

– Robert Browning

My life is great. I am trying to be Shakespeare in my life. I’m trying to do it all, and after 40 years with Arthur Murray, I see many around me who in their upper years in life and with their companies who are doing amazing work. Last week I saw Otello from the MET in HD in a movie theatre. What a thrill for me. What amazed me was the age of some of the star singers. Later in their lives, they were using a lifetime of skills to be the best in their fields on the most famous opera stage in the world, and in HD no less.

How do they do it and how did they get to this point in their lives?

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances.”

– Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886 – 1967)

American Advertising Executive

They became great by not letting their circumstances dictate their fate. They had vision and they dreamed the big dream and acted on their goals to make them become reality.

Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

– Vince Lombardi (1913 – 1970) American Football Coach

When you watch a MET opera in HD, you get to truly see “behind the curtain” of the opera and the theatre. The introduction is given from back stage. You realize that it’s not just a few singers on the stage, but hundreds of people behind the curtain who are making the magic happen. You see the singers just before they are going to sing in front of millions of fans. They seem so normal, but you know that their Adrenalin is rushing through their veins. Then, the cameras go to the front and we see the opera from the audience’s view.

During the interval, the cameras take you behind the sets. You hear the singers begin interviewed moment after they leave the stage. They are still out of breath. These chats are thrilling and full of energy. The interviews are always the top MET stars in their own rights and the camaraderie is fantastic. The cameras then take you to the rehearsal rooms where the singers and conductor are rehearsing for the next scene. You see the costumers steaming costumes and the stars getting dressed ready for the last acts.

“What do the right people want more than almost anything else? They want to be part of a winning team. They want to contribute to producing visible, tangible results. They want to feel the excitement of being involved in something that just flat out works.”

– Jim Collins

After the final curtain, the cameras show the cast behind the scenes. The ‘elite’ coming up to the stars and congratulating them. The singers hugging and shaking hands. The conductor and designer giving praise to the team. What an intimate moment that happens to be shared with millions of us who are viewing this private moment that happens after every performance.

I love being part of a great team. I love the producing of the visible, tangible results. I love the struggle, even the tears and the battle of making it day to day. The trials that come to us daily, the team members that let us down and bring us down, the heroes who light our way. The super stars that take us to the top. Yes I love it all. For when I’m right in the middle of the game, I’m truly happy and feel as if I am growing.

Be a part of a winning team. Don’t have one, make one. Beware, you will be surrounded by Iagos and those who will want to see you defeated, but also you will have your fantastic mates who will carry the load with you and run to the finish line with you. Ask for it, live it, make it happen, live through it, and enjoy the finish line!

David Woodbury

Keep on Dancing!