No 17. Changing Lives through Dancing
By David Earl Woodbury
Friday, April 24, 2015
At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.
— Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) American Actor
It seems that every day, I am amazed by what’s happening around me. We’re owners of an Arthur Murray Dance Center in Santa Monica. We are active members in the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, and EVERYONE in business knows that Arthur Murray is in Santa Monica. We are blessed with active service at St. Monica Parish Community and given every possible opportunity to serve. Our franchisor, Arthur Murray Int’l, Inc., has showered us with opportunities to grow, participate, learn and prosper.
The doors that are opening all around us open up to endless possibilities of a fantastic life of service and dancing. Funny, a few years this all seemed impossible, yes improbable, then finally inevitable. God opened the doors and we walked through on a pathway of hard work, faith, and determination.
It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
— Walt Disney (1901-1966) American Animator and Film Maker
I loved to walk around Disneyland. Just imagine that it was all just an orange grove that was transformed by one man’s dream and vision. That vision continues today many years after Walt’s passing. Walt Disney made the impossible come true.
Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.
— Harvey Fierstein
As I sometimes try to catch my breath with all that is happening around me, I look for how this wonderful life is defining me. How will I be remembered? What legacy will I leave behind? I want this said at my memorial service, “I am happy to serve”. And that’s the truth. I’m happy to give back after such a miraculous life of constantly receiving blessings from others in every area of my life.
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an
invincible summer. — Albert Camus (1913-1960) French Writer
Have there been rough times? Yes. Do I intimately know about the “Dark Night of the Soul”? Yes. Yet during the darkest days of my life, I truly found my greatest calling in life and I hope to go on to help others find their callings in their lives and to be a light and a living example to all who are growing and learning.
Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in
the end because they’ve stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and
commitments.– Kevin Costner (1955-) American Actor, Producer and Director
Take a minute and look at the extraordinary life all around you. Pause and think of all of those who got you to where you are today. Let a moment of excitement go through you as you think of all the possibilities that are ahead for you. Then, stay true to who you are and give others the same hope that is in your heart.
Thank you,
David Woodbury