If you watch Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) and saw last night’s elimination episode, then you saw one of the most inspirational stories. It is one I think that many people could learn a lesson from, and that this lesson would, hopefully, inspire them to go and pursue their life work no matter what it takes.
DWTS often profiles a dancer who has overcome some life adversity, and dance is their outlet to help them heal as well as being a vehicle for their career path. Last night’s dancer was a young 18 year old from Harlem, whose style was tap dancing. As a former tap dancer, I know this is harder than one might think. His story was so compelling – he grew up in Harlem and started tap dancing to get away from the gang life; he found he was good at it and enjoyed it so much tht he enrolled in one of the artistic schools. However, he needed money to attend. So what this young man did was go into the subways, put on his dancing shoes, and tap dance. And he did this daily throughout his school year where he raised the money so he could stay and finish out his school.
And look where he landed – on Dancing With the Stars! In his interview, this young man stated that he was not going to let anything stop him from achieving his dreams of dancing professionally; that he believed in himself and his dream enough, which is what keeps him going.
How many people can learn from this? Taking your passion, and your drive from that passion, will keep you focused on your goal and you will work hard to get what you want. Setting a goal for your career that is born of your passion will allow your natural born skills and abilities to shine and you will want to find the job where they will be utilized and valued.
So the next time you feel that it is “hard out there”, keep this young tap dancer in mind who has let nothing stop him. Take your cue from him to set your career goal, to have determination, and to find creative ways to go about getting it. As they say, “life is a dance” – so keep on dancing!
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