“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13
I grew up competing in dance competitions from the time I was about 6 years old until I graduated high school. Throughout my years of competing, people came and went, but our group became good friends, while remaining competitive. We won many first-place trophies and top routine awards, although my favorite memories from these dance weekends were not the awards we won but all the in-between moments I spent laughing with my friends.
By the time I was a senior in high school, I had a plan to attend college majoring in Dance Performance at OCU. My group of friends that I was close to at the dance studio had all graduated. There was a bit of an age gap between myself and then next girls who were a few years younger. I was in a bit of a funk beginning the year. I wasn’t excited about the upcoming season, we had a new group of girls I was working with. All I could think about was all the big things I was going to do if I could just get to college and start my journey as a performer!
When the first competition came around, I remember telling my mom it just wasn’t as fun and I didn’t really care what we won. My mother quickly put me in my place. Over the next few weeks I still struggled to let myself have fun at these events. It wasn’t until someone mentioned that this was my last ever competition that it hit me; I hadn’t been living in the now. I had been letting both the excitement of my future dreams and the memories of my past team get in the way of enjoying what I love to do most. If I couldn’t find joy in the now, did I portray joy in my dancing? Were my teammates seeing a negative me?
It’s easy to get caught up in all the things life brings us; so much that we don’t enjoy the experiences we are in currently living. Although planning for the future can be such an exciting time in our lives, we should take time to “smell the roses” and stop to think about the things we are thankful for TODAY! As one of my good friends once said, “Each of us has a reason to be here on Earth and discovering what that is, is one of the world’s most enjoyable moments.” We need to take time to enjoy each moment and live each day to be filled with joy and passion for life.
Meredith Lee, St. Luke’s Children’s Center Management
