Ballroom Lesson #3...Let the Dance Continue...

The Foxtrot continues to trot, the Rumba continues to...rumba, and the Swing is starting to swing...

Leo and I finished Lesson #3 last evening and it is becoming a little like a game of Memory. We reviewed the steps we are starting to become comfortable with, and then we added a few more step...uh-oh...

 Oh man, and just when we were starting to look good too! All it takes is a something new, even just one new step, to throw us off out timing,

 Was that "slow-slow, quick-quick" or "quick-quick-slow", or maybe it was "the Rumba rectangle with 9 counts" or was that "6 counts with an under-arm turn."

Yep, this is the look we sometimes have, mostly at each other, but sometimes at the other couples who we've tried to avoid running into, but couldn't help it. Sometimes I think they should just promenade out of our way, instead of us always trying to get out of the jam we've all tangled ourselves in. It would be easy for each of us to just look out for ourselves and not care where anyone else is, but imagine the pile of tangled arms and legs as we would all end up on the floor.

Dancing is teaching me patience (something I apparently have a hard time learning!) I need to be patient with my ability, I need to be patient with how Leo learns, I need to be patient with others on the dance floor who are also learning.

How do I respond to what I take as an insult, whether real or imagined? Not just on the dance floor, but in everyday life? I hope I can respond with grace and elegance, regardless of where I am or what I am doing.

Grace and Elegance. Sounds so nice, but neither happens without effort and practice. So, I'll keep practicing the dance, in the ballroom and in everyday life. Maybe someday I'll get it right most of the time, but in the meantime, I'll celebrate the moments that I do.

Love,
Dianne