Saturday, June 18, 2011

Dance Like No One is Watching

I have to share a funny story with you guys. It's about my oldest daughter, Maya. For those of you who don't know her, she is quite the little girl. She is stubborn, beautiful, loud, creative, whimsical, bold and did I mention beautiful? Anyway - here is the story.

One day this week, her school was hosting a spaghetti dinner. She DESPERATELY wanted to go. Me...notsomuch...(that's not really my shtick). We hadn't done any family things during the year (Again..not really my shtick) and I knew this would be our last chance. She is switching schools in the fall - so truly, this was it.

So my Mom graciously offered to watch my other two daughters (it was expensive!!) and off to the spaghetti dinner we went. We got there and, man, I wish you all could have seen her face. It was pure joy. Her friends were there, there was food, there was SODA!!, there was music, there was...EVERYTHING!! So we got our tickets and we got our pasta and we sat down. She couldn't even eat she was so excited (what is she going to do at prom! LOL!). I forced asked her to at least finish her salad and she was glad to comply. I told her she couldn't go play until she was done. Three HUGE bites and a gulp of soda (yes I did!) later, she was ready to go. She grabbed her friend Chloe and they marched to the dance floor.

What happened next was magical.

Maya has no formal dance training aside from the weekly dance parties we have at home (no, I'm not posting a video LOL!) but girlfriend L O V E S to dance. She shakes, she shimmies, she jumps, she leaps, she cartwheels - she does it all. Now, the music that was playing was not what we listen to. It was the dreaded Justin Bieber - which apparently Maya has heard before?? So anyway, she was SO INTO this dancing. All the other kids felt the need to be 'cool' on the dance floor...and there was Maya. Jumping, leaping, shaking, shimmying, moving not so gracefully around the dance floor. She owned it. Every. Single. Move.

It brought me so much joy and satisfaction to know that she felt comfortable enough with herself to just get lost in the music. She TRULY didn't care what the other kids thought, said, did - she wanted to do what she wanted to do. I was proud of her that she felt like she could express herself in that way. It was beautiful.  

For me, it was a parenting success story. I have always desired that my children understand that they were created to be the person they are; that they are beautiful just the way God made them. We talk about beauty all the time and my hope is that they understand that beauty is more than looks - its about confidence, self-worth, standards, and self-love. We tell them all the time that they are beautiful on the inside and the outside. Our hope is that they believe it always - even when the world tells them otherwise.

My hope for you all is the same - that you all understand you are beautiful even when the world tells you otherwise. It is true that beauty comes from within. Your heart is where the embers of beauty are. The more you believe it, the hotter the embers glow. The hotter they glow, the faster you have flames. When the flames are roaring, you are glowing. Believe in the embers that lie in your heart. Fan them every chance you get - and before long you will be convinced of the beauty they create.

~ Love and Light ~

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