Next!

According to the freedictionary.com passion is – “A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.” Not every person has the opportunity in life to find their passion, let alone follow it. For those of us that get to follow our passion of dance why do we always let negative thoughts hinder our ability to really enjoy what we love?

For my husband one of his passions is football. He loves to watch it from August to February. It doesn’t matter the team or the level he just loves the sport. He never sits on the couch while watching or contemplates the other things could be doing. He is fully involved in his passion enjoying every minute he gets of it. Sometimes he has to miss a game because of other commitments, but that just makes the games he gets to watch more special.

For my friend one of her passions is chocolate. She loves it so much that for her birthday every gift she gets usually has some form of chocolate in it. From Reese’s cups to Godiva to just a plain old Hershey bar, every time she eats a piece of chocolate she enjoys it. It always brings her a sense of happiness.

For me the actual physicality of dancing is my passion. It doesn’t matter if I’m on a stage, in class, or in my living room. The movement of dance makes me happy. So this brings me back to my original thought of why do those negative thought s creep in like a thief in the night while I’m doing my tendues.
Why can’t I enjoy dance like a delicious piece of chocolate or an action packed football game.

Well I’m not sure the why will ever be answered, but a simple solution on how to move on from the negative thoughts was answered this week by Tracie Stanfield. Just say “NEXT” it is that simple. It is kind of like the MTV dating show “NeXt”, but with your thoughts instead of people. Anytime you are having a negative thought about yourself in dance class you just say “NEXT” to that voice until it comes up with another thought. So when I’m standing there watching the combination and I hear that voice say “ if only your legs were a little longer I say NEXT, and when that voice says something negative I say NEX. Eventually the voice will either be quiet or maybe start to say some positive things. Tracie had given this advice to another student and when I heard it, I thought it was a perfect solution.

So whatever your passion is, be sure to enjoy it without letting negative thoughts get in the way. If they do start to creep in swat them away with a “NEXT” or perhaps a football game or piece of chocolate.
-Alana Sampietro, BDC Student and Member of Synthesis Dance Project