Even when you don’t know the steps, give yourself permission to keep on dancing – your next move will reveal itself as you go…

Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It’s the rhythm of your life. It’s the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy.

— Jaques D’ambroise

Pointes, Pirouettes, Pliés?

That would be a “no”… you won’t find Ellie posing at the ballet barre.  Not even in my mind’s eye.  Ballerina lessons weren’t part of my childhood – I was busy doing other stuff: mostly reading, with the occasional swimming (if I could find a pool), playing baseball (I was a catcher), climbing trees and wandering about the foothills.

I’m more like the kid in the photo that tops this post – I’m mentally movin’ and groovin’ with the beat… steppin’ into the unknown with Gwen Stefani’s music and title lyrics “Keep on Dancing” pulsing through my brain, propelling me forward into my challenges.  (The rest of Stefani’s lyrics?  Not my scene, but for rhythm, Stefani’s my groove!) Setting aside the beat, Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” is my go-to song for inspirational lyrics:

• I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
• Never settle for the path of least resistance
• Living might mean taking chances
• But they’re worth taking…
• When you come close to selling out
• Reconsider
• Give the heavens above
• More than just a passing glance…
• And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
• I hope you dance

Giving Myself Permission?

Oh yeah… even though I don’t know the steps, I give myself permission to Keep on Dancing. So, while you won’t find me physically boogying from one activity to another, you would see, if you could read my mind that I’m mentally strutting out the beat in all the things I try… I’m giving myself permission to keep at it – regardless of the roadblocks… I’m giving myself permission to move around and find a way to keep on making progress… and every once in a while, I actually do give myself permission to “get my move on”… to dance like no one’s watching.

Which got me to asking: What else do I need to give myself permission to do – or to keep doing despite setbacks? It occurs to me that “giving yourself permission” has been a recurrent theme on BouncebackCafe.com:

• In “Gone Loafing” an exhausted PattiAnn gave herself permission to “only work if I feel like it; to sit and do nothing; to take my camera, go for a walk (without dog) and take pictures; to bring in take-out if I want it and to defer every decision that doesn’t need to be made right now.”
• In “Distance Yourself from Your Worries” I recommended that readers give themselves permission to let their worries “fade out of memory.”
• In “Too Busy to Think” PattiAnn reminded us that by creating “endings”, by chunking tasks into smaller bits, we give our “brain permission to take a [refreshing] break before the next beginning.”
• In “A Tale of a Lost Pup” I reminded myself that: I can notice what helps me “chill” when I’m upset and then give myself some space to NOT dwell on what’s bothering me; I can give myself permission to take a breather.

Another blogger, one of my favorites, Terry Hershey, also encouraged his readers to dance, AND to:

…give yourself the permission to. . .

• Regain the foolishness of wonder
• Embrace the sacred in the daily
• Celebrate gooseflesh
• Radiate compassion
• Find God in the ordinary
• Spill laughter
• Invite serendipity

So I’ve set aside my old mantra: This too will pass.  Instead I’m giving myself permission to – Keep on dancing – it’s my new mantra and my metaphor for continuing to explore new stuff even when I don’t necessarily love it, understand it, or even know how to do it.

I’m rationalizing that if I keep on dancing, sooner or later I’ll figure out the steps.  And if not, so what, and oh well… at least I’ve given it a good run.  And, at some point, if I’m finding no joy in that particular dance, then I give myself permission to opt-out and give some other “new stuff” a whirl.

Delight in life, knee-deep in the sights, smells, sounds and textures of the day. And remember that Grace is a gift given to all. Without exception. Period.

— Terry Hershey

Even when you don’t know the steps, give yourself permission to keep on dancing – your next move will reveal itself as you go…