Dance Like...Someone's Watchin'

About two weeks ago, I tried to think of an easy way to “work in a work-out,” as they say.  I was getting bored on the elliptical and the treadmill just got me nowhere in a hurry – you know, you walk a few miles and are still in the same stinkin’ spot you started!  (hee hee)  A thought popped into my head, “Why don’t you just…dance?”

Dance!  Yes, now that sounds fun.  While I’d love to grab the hubby and head to a dance hall five nights a week, I didn’t think it would be ever so practical with our three kiddos.  So, my second best idea was to try “Just Dance 2,” the new Wii game that my son and daughter recently bought with some of Nanny’s report card money.

After all, I had been intrigued by all of the living room laughter while they boogied along for the last few weeks.  So, when the older two were at school and the little one still slumbered, I slid that disc in and stretched out the ole limbs.  “Hmmm…now, what song shall I pick first?” I eagerly mumbled, as I rubbed my palms together (like I was picking out a decadent chocolate dessert or something!  Pu-leez!) 

Before I could choose my debut song, it directed me to first pick a name for my new dancin’ self – Sunny, Baby, Funky, Jumpy, Happy, Jazzy, Crazy or Noisy.  I thought, “What?!  Am I picking my Smurf name or voting for Snow White’s eighth little dwarf?!”  Anyway, I grabbed Sunny for my new alias and then I picked my program.  I thought “Tough” sounded, well…tough, so I picked that one.

Now it was time to finally choose a song and start earning some sweat points!  I selected “Walk like an Egyptian” because that is the tune my 2 year old had been humming and strutting around to for the last month.  I was a little reserved in my dancing at first, you know, figuring out the dance moves and such.  BUT, by the third song, I was a Dancin’ Queen and was soooo glad that no one was watching.

Then, as my sweat points were climbing, I had a creepy thought of, “Oh, gosh, WHAT IF there WAS someone watching on the other side of this Wii?  WHAT IF there is some little camera thing built into this crazy game that allows folks in an office somewhere to watch me groove and laugh their tails off?”  So, I briefly modified my rock star dance moves just a tad as I pondered that thought.  “Nah,” and I just kept boogin’ along with my wild performance.

After my “show,” I started to think about how we dance through life.  There are so many different types of dances, each one unique – like each of us.  Salsa, Mambo, Tango, Jazz, Folk, Polka, Waltz, Hip-Hop, Two-Step, Ballet and…Belly Dancing come to mind.  (And, after having three big ole babies, I have NO idea why belly dancing even came to my mind.  No.  Idea.  Moving on…)

Some people have been blessed to find true inner peace as they waltz through life, knowing where to turn through all the ups and downs.  Some beautifully tango through as they synchronize their lives with His plan.  Some remember to slow it down SOME of the time as they “quick, quick, slow” through a two-step kind of life.  Many embrace the salsa, enjoying the “break” step that allows a change in direction, if needed.  And, some just do a version of the mambo and forget to take any “breaks” at all.

However we choose to dance is up to us.  But, the time to live is now; the time to be happy is now; the time to “dance” is now.  We can say that we’ll dance when we finish school…or go back to school; when we have kids…or when they leave home; when we starting working…or when we retire; when we buy a new car or home…or when we pay them off; when we gain ten pounds…or when we lose them; when it’s Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall.  The list of “I’ll be happy when…” goes on and on.  There is no better time than now…to dance.

And, it might be wise to dance like someone’s watchin’, because unlike my Wii game fear, people really are.  Important people…like our children.  Our children watch how we react to the lunch order that took forever and the slowest check-out line in the west and the hasty driver that almost hit us…and so on.

There is also a story I’d like to share about watching others:

A young couple bought their first home in a new neighborhood.  The next morning, while eating breakfast, the young wife saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside and said to her husband, “That laundry isn’t very clean.  She doesn’t know how to wash correctly.  Perhaps she needs better laundry soap?”

Her husband looked out the window with her, but remained silent.

Each time the neighbor would hang her wash to dry,

 the young woman would make the same comments.

About a month later, the woman was very surprised to see nice, clean clothes on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has finally learned to wash correctly.

 I wonder who taught her?”

The husband replied, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And, so it is as we dance through life.  When we watch others, it all depends on the purity of the window through which we look.  Wow.  What a great reminder.

My family loves those commercials where one person does something nice and then passes it on by doing something kind for someone else, etc.  What a wonderful way to dance.  If consideration can be so contagious, we can assume that nastiness can be as well. 

As for me, I will continue to Wii dance like no one’s watchin’ (um..please just call before you come to my door).  But, as I sway through my day and tap to the rhythm of this life, I will try to remember to dance like someone’s watchin’.  I’ll ask the Master Choreographer for help with my daily “routine.”  Less IS more – less of me and more of Him.  Dancing solo is fun for just so long.  A dance that includes the Lord can be so much more than we ever imagined.  Happy Dancing!