Thoughts

A few more stories from the Challenge.

On Saturday morning, while I was heading over the the bullpin for one of my heats some random lady stopped me. She said to me, "I just wanted to let you know that you look absolutely beautiful in your dress and I have been watching you yesterday and today and I think you are doing an amazing job!" I could have kissed her! I was so discouraged by my dancing the day before and feeling very fat and ugly. She made me feel amazing!

I just talked with Debbie tonight. That is Tim's other student. She just told me that the Newcomer heats that Tim put us in on Saturday morning, he paid for them all, out of his own pocket. That is seven extra heats. Three for Debbie and Four for me. Each heat is thirty-five bucks a pop. Incredible. No other instructor would do that for his students. He knew I was discouraged by the day before and Debbie had not received any award stickers and she really wanted one. I am floored that he would do that for us.

So here are my overall thoughts about the competition.

• I was able to see just how much work I have ahead of me. It gave me the swift kick in the butt I needed to continue to work as hard as possible. Everyday to get better and better. I was also able to watch people who were strong in the areas of my weaknesses and be able to see exactly what I need to be doing better.
• I was able to get a glimpse of the life I want to have. It gave me the taste of living a life in the world of ballroom and I love it and want it! I love the ballroom, the gowns, the chandeliers, the people, the music, the movement. I want it all!
• I was incredibly pleased with my instructor for the entire weekend. He behaved exactly as I would have wanted my instructor to behave. He was by my side the entire weekend and talking to me about the dancing we were seeing. He was encouraging me while I was competing and helping me to laugh to de-stress when it wasn't going well. He stepped up in a huge way and gave Debbie and I and incredible gift to boost our confidence. He was willing to hear the long laundry list of things Debbie and I want to work on in the coming months and was excited at the prospect of getting better.
• I was pleased to discover I had lost more weight then the scale showed and I am changing shapes. That knowledge and seeing lots of half naked women gave me the encouragement I needed to keep losing weight and set a goal for next year's challenge.
• The Challenge provided and amazing opportunity which I will never forget and hope to relive many times. It stretched me so much further than I knew I could go. I stretched my body physically to its very limits. I stretched my girly side and found today that I missed looking like a girl. I stretched my emotions and internal strength and learned to fight nerves and work to maintain a positive outlook in the face of failure. I stretched my imagination further into the dream I have for myself which I am even more unwilling to give up on.
• There are pictures of me online taken by professional photographers and the smile on my face in some of the pictures are pure evidence of the joy I get from dancing. I am so pleased with what I am doing and pleased that someone was able to capture the sheer joy I felt during those days.