LIFE IS A DANCE -- JUST MOVE

Dear Friends:

Committing to a daily blog is a lot like making a New Year's resolution. It is like trying to stay on a diet or committing to working out at the gym. We start out with plenty of passion and drive and energy -- but then it disappears.

We want to stay true. We want to stick with it. We want to once and for all finally follow through with something we started.

More often than not, we don't. Our enthusiasm wanes. Stuff gets in the way.

Do not be discouraged. True leaders are those who understand the process. It is not always about the finish line or being the fastest or proving our worth by taking on so much it overwhelms us. Sometimes its just about staying steady.

The flow of life has its ups and downs. It is like a dance.

If you have ever watched DANCING WITH THE STARS or SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on TV (especially the auditions) you will know some people have the ability to glide and to flow while others definately do not. Some have rythem, some don't.

I don't know if I'm much of a dancer. I do know there is a place in the Spirit where things just happen naturally and that, my friend, is a really beautiful place to be. Sadly, we don't get there very often and when we do we sometimes ruin the moment by trying too hard to control the environment. Have you watched someone trying to dance the jive to a slow romantic ballad? Have you seen someone trying to jitterbug to hip hop music? Its easy to be awkward and out of step on the dance floor, and with God. When this happens, we not only look foolish -- we feel it as well.

Does that mean we should hang up our dancing shoes and sit on the sidelines of life? Absolutely not. One of the greatest things we can do is keep dancing. Dance like no one is watching. Dance freely but take the time to LISTEN to the music. Sometimes we hear the beat but we do not listen with our hearts. Hearing is the process of sound waves entering the ear and hitting the brain. Listening, however, is comprehending those sounds. Listening involves turning noise into meaning.

One of the most important things is to never give up completely. Keep trying. So you started a blog, a diet, a daily workout and you missed it a time or two. Is that the end of it? You may have indulged in some chocolate today but that doesn't mean you've blown the whole diet. Maybe you missed a day at the gym. Perhaps you only accomplished one thing on a very long "to do" list -- at least you have one less thing left to do now.

Too many times we give up. We set out standards or our expectations so high we know we can't attain the goal. Why bother. We were doomed from the very start.

I say keep moving. Do not let the momentum stop. Forward, backwards, sideways . . . just move.

Life is a dance. Sometimes we go forward, sometimes we step back and sometimes we stand still. As long as we keep dancing, we'll get where we're going in due season.

Just dance,
Cindi (aka POETIC JUSTICE)