Life Lessons from My Time as a Dancer

🎧 👉 Prefer audio? You can also listen to me share about this in podcast episode #010 here.

I spent a lot of time at the dance studio during my childhood.

The Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet (where I studied Jazz and Ballet) was like a second home to me, and the owners/teachers, Joel & Debra Rogo, became extended family to me. 

Many significant life moments happened while I was at the studio, including

😨 the moment the First Gulf War began (while my brother was on the front lines as a sniper in the Marines) and

😳 the first time I asked someone out on a date (Picture a young, excited girl calling from the studio wall phone with the long coil cord circa 1989…Hugs to my lifelong friend Tommy who will be reading this email and laughing at my enormous 80's hairdo that made me taller than him 🤣).

When reflecting on childhood memories from my dancing days, countless lessons came to mind.

Five lessons have jumped out at me the most, though.

The photo above shows my very first pair of ballet shoes from when I was a little girl (on the right) and my last pair from when I was 17 years old (on the left).

Lesson #1: It’s often best to mold something to fit YOU instead of molding yourself to fit it.

This is a funny story!

One of the things I carried in my dance bag was a rubber mallet!

Are any prior ballerinas out there reading this, knowing what I'm about to say?

I'm guessing many of you are scratching your heads... 

 
When I would get a new pair of pointe shoes (the type of ballet shoes that enable someone to go up onto their toes), they would be stiff as a board, and I’d need to break them in and mold them to my own feet. 

So I would take that rubber mallet and hammer the crap out of them!

(I still have that mallet—although I don’t use it on any shoes anymore. 🤣)

Back to the metaphor: It’s often best to mold something to fit YOU instead of molding yourself to fit it.

Often the people-pleasing side of us kicks in, and we mold ourselves to fit whatever circumstances arise or what our culture dictates to be “appropriate.” 

Yet, sometimes you need to mold things to fit you.

Try taking time to recognize what would work best FOR YOU and then make requests to arrange those things, negotiate as needed, and set boundaries.

Lesson #2: Focus

When I would feel off balance dancing or I couldn’t get the steps right, my Dad (who would often stop by to watch me in class) would point a finger to the front center of his forehead as a visual reminder for me to focus. That helped remind me to focus and find my center again.

Years later, in Fearless Living (the foundation of my coaching training), I found that focus is one very important proactive behavior that moves me from fear to freedom.

It could be a little fear moment that I want to move out of (like feeling a little anxious as I sit down to begin writing and outlining some new podcast episodes) or a bigger fear moment (like when I was spinning in circles after my mom tried to commit suicide while highly intoxicated). 

Whether the fear is big or small, focusing on one thing always helps calm me.

👉 If you want to hear me talk about these first two lessons in more detail and hear the other three lessons, listen to my 🎙️podcast episode #010 here.

What You’ll Learn: 

⭐ Why it’s often best to mold something to fit you instead of molding yourself to fit it
⭐ How focus is a proactive behavior that can help you move from fear to freedom
⭐ Why loosening up and stretching (physically and emotionally) is beneficial
⭐ How balance is not static and requires constant realignment
⭐ How the real purpose is not to get to a certain place but to enjoy each step

Whether or not you have ever danced, you can apply these lessons to your own life to live with more freedom, ease, and joy. 

“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.” 

– Wayne Dyer

🎧 👉 Prefer audio? You can also listen to me share about this in podcast episode #010 here.