Ballet Shoes

I’ve had a quiet love for ballet for years. At age 11 it was voiced through the way I would practice our dance routines everywhere I had a spare moment, even the grocery store aisles when waiting on my mom. At age 20 it was a trip to see a traveling ballet company with my Grandma. When I turned 22 my admiration took shape in the purchase of a little black dress that made me feel like a ballerina. Twenty-three found me seizing the day by taking a session of adult ballet for beginners, which reiterated that my talent lies in observing rather than participating. Last Friday night I attended the Nashville Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. Thanks to some wise words Christina shared with me earlier this year, at age 24, I finally was able to put into words why I’ve carried a torch for the ballet all these years.

As I watched the “Snow Queen and King” appear to literally float about the stage as they danced, it finally clicked in my mind. I love ballet because it reflects a grace that I hope my life will daily reflect too. My sparse experience with actually trying to dance has taught me that even the littlest move or plie is actually extremely difficult and takes much time to perfect. Ballet requires discipline, years of practice, and a learned grace before those moves look completely effortless on stage. It’s not a transformation that takes place overnight. As I look back at this past year and look ahead to 2006, this realization gives me comfort. Life is not guaranteed to be easy and solutions to problems or answers to our desires rarely happen overnight. On the contrary, there is almost always some sort of challenge at hand or waiting period, whether we choose it or not. We do, however, have a choice in how we respond to and handle life’s challenges.

My hope is that I will daily discover a little bit deeper what it means to trust bravely and carry life’s challenges with a ballerina like poise and grace that makes others think,

“I want to dance with Him too.”