Believe in the dance: choosing to believe in yourself

“NO LIFE CAN ESCAPE BEING BLOWN ABOUT BY THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND CHANCE. AND THOUGH YOU NEVER KNOW ALL THE STEPS, YOU MUST LEARN TO JOIN THE DANCE.”

- BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL

One of my favorite animated movies is the Prince of Egypt. I am a big kid, I love kids and family movies. More so, I am in love with the soundtrack to the Prince of Egypt! It’s lyrical genius on top of beautiful composition. (But enough of my fangirling lol)

I find myself here on a Tuesday evening listening to this soundtrack as I bawl my eyes out while seeking answers. Life is constantly shifting, and at times I find myself falling, dizzy, and confused by how quickly it’s moving. Tonight I find myself feeling all these things in addition to anger because I feel left behind. I feel like I can’t keep up with all that is happening and what my role is supposed to be.

Sometimes life gives you a glimpse of its beauty and then it feels like it runs away, leaving us to try to find it again. Instead I find myself doubting if beauty is a reality, my reality. 

Today I had to hear many truths, some very hard that have left me doubting if what I have seen, dreamed and believed is true. Today left me doubting whether I am actually meant to make a difference in this world, if I am capable of living my dreams, if I can catch up or learn the dance. So I sat to pray, to meditate, to seek and was reminded that I have to choose to believe in myself, my inner and outer self. 

Believing is so hard. It’s not just simply seeing beyond your reality or seeing through a lens greater than your own. It’s believing in the vision and your ability to live it out. As I sat here listening to this movie soundtrack I was struck by these lyrics;

“AND THOUGH YOU NEVER KNOW ALL THE STEPS, YOU MUST LEARN TO JOIN THE DANCE.” - THROUGH HEAVEN’S EYES

Tonight I was reminded that I have to choose to believe that I can join the dance. I think there are a lot of people that need this reminder. We will never know all the steps in life. It’s a mysterious choreography that will have you feeling like Janet Jackson one moment, and then like you have two left feet the next second. Yet the dancing doesn’t stop.

Sometimes the dance will be hard and other times easy, but throughout it all we have to learn to just jump in. To jump in requires trust, it requires a vulnerability that understands you’ll make a wrong turn or clap off beat. It also requires the choice to believe that regardless of how it comes out, you are still dancing.

Some of us have been trying to figure out the dance for a long time. We’ve been sitting in the bleachers on the sidelines writing down the steps, or trying to jump in like someone playing double dutch. Some of us jumped in and on the first misstep, jumped right back out. Some of us are simply watching trying to figure out why the heck we have to dance to begin with. Honestly, we all probably move through phases of all these moments.I think all of these moments have a role and don’t determine our ability or worth. In fact, they help guide us towards that kairos moment where we have to choose to just join the dance.

So as we try to find ourselves in this ever constant, changing world and are faced with enormous challenges, we have to remember to choose to believe in ourselves. If we can choose to believe and show up for ourselves, we can show up for our world. And it’s in that moment that we realize that we don’t need to know all of the steps to the dance, we just need to learn to join in it.

Learn to let yourself fall, to be completely confused, to live in the moment, groove to the beat, clap off beat, totally nail it and then totally not. I’m realizing that what the Divine wants us to understand is that living is not about being perfect or the best, it’s about believing that you can live, that you can dance...

Once you believe that you can dance, you never stop. The steps might change and the venue might differ, but the dance never ends. So just keep on moving! 

Learn to believe in the dance, learn to love the dance, learn to believe in you!

“WHEN I FOCUS ON MY INNER LIGHT, I SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THE LENS OF LOVE.” - GABRIELLE BERNSTEIN