Dancing Feet

“Dance like nobody’s watching. Love like you never been hurt
Sing like nobody’s listening. Live like its heaven on earth.” Mark Twain

I am not a dancer. For those who know me well, this confession clearly does
not come as a shock to you! When it comes to dancing, I definitely have two
left feet, but oh how I admire people who are gifted in this area! I used to
love to watch Michael Jackson and the creative and unbelievable routines he
would make up in his incredible music videos. Some people are just born with it
and he certainly was one of them.

In my classroom I like to tease my students and do my “happy dance” when they
really accomplish something special. I am sure I look pretty foolish, but they
enjoy this crazy routine! I guess I am creating a funny memory for them to
recall if nothing else! Several years ago I had a little girl in my class that I
called "Little Miss Sunshine." She lit up the room every day with her infectious
grin and zest for life. No matter how difficult the work may have been at times,
her positive spirit and determination carried her through. I remember
specifically when she found something in math challenging and then had that
“a-ha” moment when it all came together, she would literally dance around my
desk and room. She could not contain her excitement that she “got” it and her
reaction was absolutely priceless. This student came to a book signing that I
had recently. To my delight she had not changed one bit and was literally
dancing in line to greet me and buy my book. I was very touched by her
genuineness and sweet nature. Oh how I have missed her! I was so proud to take a
picture with her and that photo now holds a unique  place of honor on what I
call “Mrs. R’s Board,” in my classroom. She had dancing feet every day despite
some challenges in the classroom.

Sometimes we are having such a joyful experience that our happiness works its
way right down to our toes. When you have those experiences, cherish them
because for some of us they may be too few and far between. I  remember driving
along with my two kids one day when they were little, listening to Veggie Tales
and Shannon saying, “Look Mom! My beet (feet) are dancing!” She was just so
happy, even her tiny feet were showing it. Very cute! Sometimes I think we need to
remind ourselves of all we have in life. All of us have reasons to dance, yet
sometimes we forget what they are. We get so bogged down with the day to day
pressures of life and familiar struggles, our once "dancing feet" are all to soon
dragging on the floor. There is a YouTube sensational who calls himself Kid
President. His goal in a nutshell is to “make the world awesome,” and he wants
us to join him in that venture! I love to watch his videos and have included one
on my website. He also makes it his mission to give the world “a reason to
dance!” This little guy can clearly get his groove on, yet I came to find out
that he suffers from brittle bone disease and his great desire to dance, puts
him at great risk of personal injury. This really touched my heart as it really
spoke to me about being positive and joyful even in the midst of tremendous
adversity. He has dancing feet despite a severe and serious illness.

Happiness is a choice. We can choose to walk through life like a sad sack
with our chins on the ground, or we can choose to be joyful even if there is not
much to be joyful about. This is not always easy I know. My husband and I have
had several miscarriages. This was a very difficult thing to experience and my
heart goes out to anyone who has experienced this type of loss. After my last
miscarriage, I experienced a very powerful dream that involved dancing, square
dancing as a matter of fact! In my dream, my grandpa who had passed away several
years before came to me. I had been told prior to his arrival in my dream that
he was being sent specifically to cheer me up, but I had to let him come and go
as he pleased. My grandpa and I were extremely close and he was an incredible
and hilarious man who could make anyone laugh. I was ecstatic at the opportunity
to see him again, if even in a dream for one last time! In the dream he chatted
with me about my sadness, and he said he had come to cheer me up by doing a
little square dancing together. We danced. We laughed. We chatted and all to
soon it was over and he had to go. I felt better though. My feet had danced with
grandpa and I felt refreshed and hopeful. I consider this dream a gift and I
will always cherish it. I found dancing feet in the midst of extreme sorrow and
great loss.

It is so easy to look at what is going wrong in our lives. We can get caught
up in the negativity that often surrounds us, but I encourage you not to do
that. See the good in things. See the good in people. Gravitate towards people
who bring you up. Look for those people who set your feet to dancing. They are
the people who bring out the best in you like my grandpa did.  I heard a quote that said
“ Choose to be with people who celebrate you, not tolerate you!” This is a very
good thought to ponder and so very true. Some people just give off positive vibes and warmth. They make you feel like you matter and are very important.  Those are the people we need when we are down and in need of a good dose of encouragement.

Recently, I watched the movie Saving Mr. Banks. It was an excellent movie
about the writer of the Mary Poppins books, P.L. Travers and Walt Disney and the
difficult road it took to bring her book to the big screen. She was an extremely
difficult, stubborn and cantankerous woman to deal with, yet at one point in the
movie the team begins to figure her out and presents a song to her called “Let’s
Go Fly A Kite.” This song as lighthearted as it may seem, represented the
redemption of her father and how he had an eye opener of what was truly
important in life, his family. The team knows they are onto something special
when the camera shows her toes tapping and her dancing in her chair. Eventually
to everyone’s surprise she cannot contain her delight and she gets up and
dances, singing at the top of her lungs. A rare occurrence for someone like her,
but yet a good reminder that there is a great need to use our dancing feet in
all of us, even the most unlikely candidate like her! She found dancing feet in
the middle of a very awkward and stressful scenario. Good for her!

The Bible talks about that God will set our feet to dancing. He does give us
a beautiful exchange mentioned in scripture such as beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Sounds
like a great trade off to me! It may be a long time since you have tried those
dancing feet. They are available for you to use despite your certain set of
hardships or challenges. They may be wobbly, and your steps may be clumsy, but
choosing to be joyful not because of your circumstances, but in spite of them
like the people I mentioned, will really carry you very far if you will consider this
possibility! Oh yeah, and one more thing… Don’t worry about what you look like
because I think the foolish prize went to me long ago, so you’ll be just fine,
trust me!

Dana

Psalms 30:11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing…

Little Lesson Learned: Everyone has a reason to dance. Don’t forget to find
one each day!


Copyright: Littlelessonslearnedbydana, 2014