After a week of sitting on the couch reading all the books my Barnes and Noble gift cards bought me, I started cruising through Pinterest for inspirational dance pics that would hopefully guilt me into doing something vaguely active.  Amid the sepia-colored images of dancers in the air, I came across this picture:

“Don’t disappoint her?”

Ummm…pressure much?

I don’t really agree with pushing through the hard points of anything just to appease whoever’s watching you (I also find it vaguely terrifying to think of a flock of baby ballerinas watching your every step at every moment, waiting for you to fail and ruin their lives).

However, I do have to admit that this guilt-inducing meme has a point, and it’s not about living in fear from tiny diva dancers.

What these words should focus on is not disappointing other people, but sticking with it for yourself. All dance is incredibly hard when you get down to it. Whether it’s hip hop or ballet, it takes years to perfect, and constant arduous training to remain in top form, but when you finally nail a move, it’s worth all those hours of conditioning and pain.

I’ve met so many people who started dance when they were young, only to quit when they were in their teens. I, myself, wanted to be one of them, but I was fortunate to have a mother who refuses to ever a) give up b) watch reality TV.

If you were one of those dancers who got as bored as I did in class as a kid, it’s not too late to get back into the game. I can’t tell you how many dancers I’ve met who started dancing in college, or even later, who can wipe the floor with me. If you want to dance, just do it. Get your shoes out (or buy new ones if you’ve outgrown them), get yourself into a class, and don’t care about who else is watching.

What this picture should should say is “Don’t give up before the miracle happens.”

That or, “Dancers kick butt.”