No 38 Changing Lives through Dancing
By David Earl Woodbury
Friday, September 26, 2014
Make Tomorrow Better Than Today!
You have to ask (what can you do that) will make tomorrow better than
today?– Clothing Designer Yuki Katsuta
Every morning when I awaken, I take a moment before opening my eyes and visualize. I see light and that I am completely whole and perfect. There is a serene time of peace and hope, rest and joy. It takes a second to find that perfect place, yet it is always there waiting for me. Light, Health, Hope, Joy, Peace…I say these over and over and then open my eyes to begin a great day.
This new day is a clean slate. No matter what happened the day, week, month, or even year before, I have a fresh day, a new beginning to make magic. This awakening helps me overcome any negative feelings in the morning and gives me a bright look to the wonderful day ahead.
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn
how to do it.– Pablo Picasso
Is the day ahead always cherry and full of hope and joy, well, no. Some days are a loss to me, out of control and I am sick by dinner. The evening gets even worse and I return home exhausted. Yuck! I hate those days, yet they are mercifully few and far between. Then, when that wonderful day where everything is working out well comes, I surely do appreciate it in every way!
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world
are the ones who do.– Apple’s “Think Different” Commercial, 1997
Can we change the world? I think yes. I still think that when I arrived at the Arthur Murray Dance Center in Santa Monica that I can change the lives of my partners, staff, and our wonderful current and new students. I still have a dream that everyone who walks in through our doors will be magically transported into a world of dance, fun, friendships, and hospitality. The thought that success will stream over us as a cascade of one accomplishment after the other still fills my mind and I am full of hope.
My question to you is this. Do you have what it takes to make it to the end? Do you have enough patience, hope, will, vision, direction, and passion to make your dreams come true? I do and the more I say it the more I see us inching along the road of accomplishment to making all our dreams a reality.
In dancing, change takes time. We must learn a new muscle memory, a new habit, a new order of moving, a new way of connecting and partnering. Dancing causes us to be in a place where we have to take instruction and actually make changes in ourselves. It is said, never be with someone expecting them to change. That’s bunk. I hope we are all always changing and trying to become our better person. In dancing, we partner with someone on the sole basis that through time, practice, patience, vision and hard work, we will change and become strong and polished in our movements.
Don’t give the people what they want, give them something better.
— Entertainment pioneer Sam Rothafel
Be unforgettable and be different. Be the example of success in your circle of friends. Always have hope, volunteer for the hardest tasks. Dream the most difficult dreams. Tackle the hardest assignments and see them accomplished. You will find that in the end, you will always give your best and you will be in the front line as a leader to others.
Thank you,
David Woodbury