By: Miss Kelly.
As the first born child, I am your stereotypical type-A planner. I don’t half-commit to anything. I either jump into the deep end, face first with gusto, or I don’t swim at all. A few years ago in the middle of summer, I convinced my husband it would be a grand idea to ride our bikes from Hudson WI, to Forest Lake, MN. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, this route is approximately 28 miles of nothing but hills. We had never biked more than a few miles, were completely unprepared, had cheap bikes, didn’t bring any water along, it was a really hot day…. you get the point. We’re still married, and it was a great relationship building exercise but perhaps my eyes were bigger than my stomach. But, that’s how I roll: all or nothing.
Someone once told me that to succeed in life, 80% of the battle is just showing up. At the time, I thought this was terrible advice. Point in case: you can’t simply plop yourself in a desk at school for 12 years and expect to walk away smarter and ready to take on the world. What I have since learned though, is that showing up isn’t just physically being there. It’s mentally and emotionally investing yourself in whatever it is you’re spending time on. Don’t just be there, going through the motions to get through it. ACTUALLY BE THERE. Be present. Take the good with the bad. Fully experience it.
Show up.
No surprise, this is also how I view dance. The way I see it, you have two choices: 1. You can come to practice, hide in the back row, get through the motions, and call it day, OR…2. (this my preferred option), you can put in all the effort and emotion you have to give, try your darndest, and leave knowing that even if that leap or pirouette wasn’t perfect, by golly you tried.
Don’t sell yourself short. Not in dance, not in life. Show up. Effort and intention are what define greatness and will ultimately lead to your success.
During that 28 mile bike ride, I wanted to quit and call my mom to come pick us up on multiple occasions. I looked like a total rookie pushing my bike up a hill that was way beyond my skill level. But guess what? When we finally rode into the driveway of our destination (5 hours later…), I have quite literally never felt so accomplished in my entire life. Why? Because we finished. We didn’t give up on each other or ourselves. We showed up, and we kept it up. It was far from perfect, but we did it.
So whether in dance, school, work - wherever you choose to spend time: show up. :)
