No 32 Changing Lives through Dancing
By David Earl Woodbury
Friday, August 8th, 2014
How to be a Champion Dancer!
We all have dreams. And we all get disappointed. We all have
heartache and we suffer and work to get through it. It’s just the
human condition. …So I stand here today so proud. I’m so proud of
my team and I’m so proud of myself.
— Diana Nyad, who at age 64 swam 103 miles from Cuba to Florida
To be a champion dancer, you must have a passion fueled by a white-hot burning desire to achieve your goals.
When Thomas Edison was interviewed by a young reporter who boldly asked Mr. Edison if he felt like a failure and if he thought he should just give up by now. Perplexed, Edison replied, “Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” And shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb.
Are You Willing to Strike Out?
In 1923, Babe Ruth broke the record for most home runs in a season. That same year, he also broke the record for highest batting average. His third record broken that same year was striking out more times than any other player in Major League Baseball. He held the most strike outs record for 29 years until Mickey Mantle. Babe Ruth was not afraid to strike out and was fearless in his entire remarkable career.
As in dancing, most of us want to hit home runs, yet we are afraid to fail in order to get there. You can’t have one without the other. If you don’t go out swinging that often, you won’t hit many home runs. If you want to his over the fences, you must be willing to strike out!
Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best
friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it
work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and
everything around you.
— Boxing trainer Cus D’Amato to 13 year old Mike Tyson
To be a truly great dancer, learn what it takes to be a champion. Study the lives of athletes, dancers, composers, writers, business leaders, and get several mentors to help you on your way. The harder we strive to achieve greatness, the more times we seem to fail. This is one fact, you will eventually achieve greatness, and it will matter in your life and in the lives of others! Don’t give up. Keep striving and don’t be afraid and enjoy your achievements!
“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
Thank You,
David Earl Woodbury
Next Week: How to go to a Dance Competition!