Back in July, I wrote this cheesy motivational post about not giving up. Someone found it the other day, so it showed up in my blog statistics. I felt like doing a follow-up.

 

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I thought I was done competing in ballroom after CalOpen in February. Every new plan to get back to competing was foiled by some new plot twist. I was beginning to doubt I would ever make it back. But I saw the opportunity in a recent twist, and I have been able to quickly save over a third of the funds I estimate I’ll need for a comp in Spring 2017.

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I continue to experience doubts about my progress as a dancer, especially when I fall into the comparison trap and focus on how quickly others are passing me by. I have to remind myself that I am on a different path, one with a lot more twists, turns and side adventures. Just because others are on faster paths does not mean I stop moving on mine.

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Both Dance Diaries books have been out for at least several months now. Deciding where to take my writing next has been a challenge, sometimes a scary and overwhelming one. I feel pressure to meet higher expectations, whether real or imagined. People have praised the first two books, so the next one better be amazing! I know I need to just trust myself and write from the heart. If I stay true to myself, I won’t let anyone down.

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The common denominator for me continues to be: never give up.

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Life has a funny way of knocking us down but then providing ways for us to pick ourselves back up. The recent plot twist that led me across country to finish off the year on the East Coast meant no dance lessons or practices for at least two months. But it also meant no payments for dance lessons, so that money could be shifted to my comp fund.

Ballroom has taught me that I can do things even when I’m terrified, so I know writing my next book is totally doable, even with some apprehension.

If I examine my ballroom journey thus far, I recognize that what I have accomplished as a ballroom dancer with the little I have to work with is significant and does not compare to others’ accomplishments. Maybe I don’t have a studio to practice in or a partner to practice with, but I can still practice. My life as a ballroom dancer may not look like others’, but I’m still a ballroom dancer.

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I’ll leave you in the same way as before. Whatever you’re working on, don’t give up. Even when it feels like you’re on the path to failure, keep working as if it’s the path to success. Because the path to success actually feels a lot like failure. Until it’s not.