TAKE MORE CHANCES, DANCE MORE DANCES

“Life is like a tango; fortunate are the few who can master it.”  ― A.J. Garces

I believe that we can only acquire a skill if we work hard for it. There are various type of skills, some that come to us organically and some that require us to put in great effort.

I have personally struggled to learn a skill that I was not privileged to have naturally. Since I was a child , I was always fascinated by the different types of dance forms but unfortunately, I was not able to perform any of them graciously . Whenever I tried to dance I was made fun of . The people around me would call me ‘dyslexic’ and ‘rigid’. There were always various opportunities coming by in this field but I couldn’t avail any .

I really wanted to be able to dance but how much ever I tried, I failed . I even started taking dance classes , everyday for about two hours I would practice just the basic moves and dance till all my energy drained out .I felt like I was finally going the extra mile .

 It had been about three months since I had been buckling down and now there was the ‘ Inter House Dance Competition’ in my school.

I decided to audition for it .Before the audition I practiced day and night . On the day of the audition there were butterflies in my stomach but I made sure I gave in my best .

After a week the list of the people who had been selected was put up in the hallway. I was extremely jittery and afraid to even look at it . Finally I gathered up the courage to take a glance at the list and there ,I saw my name. In that moment I was in seventh heaven and very pumped up .

Practice began within a week , I was so excited that I always reached before time . All the students who were a part of this performance had prior experience in this field , I was doing my best to cope up with them . I diligently practiced all the steps that we were being taught and also , managed to master the first few .

After a month the moves kept getting complex and I couldn’t grasp the steps . However, I realise Rome wasn’t built in a day. I put in laborious effort, nonetheless, I did not succeed . After a few days I was told that I wasn’t doing well and was the black sheep of the group therefore they had to remove me from the performance .

Well , Colin Powell righty said that

“A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”

I was embarrassed , humiliated and ashamed of myself .

It was a real let down. I was very disappointed and at that point of time I decided to give up as I felt how much ever I tried my efforts were in vain .

When I reached home , crying , my mother saw me and told me that if I keep trying I will fulfil my endeavours one day or the other . She told me that all my dreams can come true , if I have the courage to pursue them .She swore that if I became fearless and continued trying , I would be able to accomplish what I want to .

Mark Twain once said that “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Now I decided to pull up my socks and work even harder. Every morning I woke up at 5 a.m. and watched videos of renowned dancers . I made it a point to practice until I was exhausted every single day.

Then one day I got to know that there was a dance workshop happening in a nearby town . I was very puzzled about whether I should take part in it or not . But my parents encouraged me a lot and told me to have faith in myself . They asked me to forget about the past and think about the future.

Even though the fear of being let down again was still there in the back of my heart , I decided to seek that opportunity as a second chance to prove myself .

When I went for the workshop I realised that there were a lot of people who were being forced to learn dance by their parents or wanted to learn it because of peer pressure . I felt fortunate because I was not being forced into learning it .

But the truth is , that I wanted to be able to dance because I was embarrassed and ashamed of the way I danced .

In the workshop , I also met some people who did not dance well but were not ashamed because of that , they just focused on improving themselves .These people did not criticise anyone instead they gave tips on how to become better .I also made a few friends , one of them was called Lucy who inspired me the most .She told me to be proud of what I have and not ashamed of it .Lucy herself was not the best dancer , but she was okay with being bad .All she focused on was becoming better ,she didn’t care about what the people around her thought .Lucy had the greatest influence on me .

After the workshop my perspective changed ,I became fearless and that’s when I realised that all I was lacking was confidence .

Now I feel that I would’ve never gained the confidence to dance unless I would’ve failed the first time .

In the words of Oscar Wilde "What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."

However , the workshop gave me a second chance to overcome my fears and I am glad that I could meet people like Lucy there.

After all this I was able to gain the skill of dancing by working hard towards it. Although , I am still learning , I am not a master at it . Now I am not embarrassed and I am okay with being a laughing stock sometimes but I have fun and that’s all that matters .

In this whole incident I acquired the skill of dancing as well as

Confidence .