I have to admit it…I’m addicted to Dancing with the Stars! I coordinate my chaotic schedule around the show. What makes it even better is that during the commercials I call my mom and she and I evaluate the dancers, costumes and music.  It’s our special bonding time and we let nothing get in the way of it.

Why is this show the only thing that can get me to halt my fast pace d schedule? Because of the connection it creates for me and my mom and the beauty created through the dance.

Many years ago, in a land far far away, I taught Ballroom Dancing at the Fred Astaire dance studios. I loved going to the studio to teach; to see the smile on the face of an engaged couple when they got through a lesson without stepping on each other’s toes, the look on the faces of the men and women who remembered the routine they were taught the week before, but most of all the Friday night open dance.

Friday night was “open dance”. This was when any student could come and dance with the instructors or other students to practice what they had learned. The music went from a waltz to the tango to the samba and so on and the dancers switched partners after each dance. If all of the students had partners, I would sit on the side just watching the dancers.

When the music started there were no worries about work or home, everyone just danced. You could see the freedom in their moves, no judging or correcting, just dancing.

Now to my point.

Taking time to focus on the things we enjoy doing. We live such fast paced lives and we rarely slow down to “smell the roses” so to speak. In a world of hectic schedules and chaotic calendars we need to take time for us. It’s not selfish, it’s necessary.

No one wants to come to the end of their days on this earth and think, I ran so fast I missed most of my life. So take time TODAY to do something you love to do but have been “too busy” to do.

Sign up for a cooking class, take a course at a local college on something you are passionate about, read a book, learn to sew, start a puppet theater, learn to make balloon animals…the list is endless and it is yours.

Remember that the life you are living is your dance and you are the star!

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