DOLPHIN DANCE

Sitting on a beach, we were looking out on the ocean just moments after the horizon had split the sun in half when suddenly two dolphins leapt completely out of the water, their sleek bodies and silvery spray creating a thousand mini-sunrises. We’d enjoyed their oceanic antics before but never had we seen them completely take to the air, do a 180, then curl back into the shimmery waters (sans SeaWorld!). It was so perfect it looked rehearsed, but it wasn’t. It was completely natural. They were just doing what dolphins do. 

Earlier, I’d been thinking about the people--family, friends, co-workers, and in some cases, even complete strangers--who’ve had a significant impact on the person I’ve become. Now I put these two ideas together. 

I’m talking about the people who said or did something that touched me in such a compelling way that they empowered me to rise above the surface of my usual self-centered motivations and modus operandi. In some cases, they taught me the fine art of doing a 180! These are people who offered a few words of kindness or some small act of compassion to me or someone around me--before the opportune moment slipped back beneath time’s surface. These are people who did something that, like the dancing dolphins, came so naturally to them that they probably had no idea that what they did felt so intensely and wonderfully loving to me that it actually changed my life. Forever. 

I know now, these precious people had made learning the dance of love such a priority in their lives and they had practiced it for so long that what looked on the outside like something that just came naturally to them actually occurred only because they, like the dolphins, had very intentionally made it happen.

When I think of their words and actions now, in some cases years later, it softens and soothes me. It smoothes--and even woos me. It woos me into wanting to be exactly that kind of a person. It woos me into wanting to learn that same dance...to practice hard every day until the steps become so natural that from the outside it looks, well, natural--as if, with the dolphins, I was made for this dance. Because I am.

So are you. So...who are the people who’ve taught you the steps? Who are the ones who helped you rise above the slick surface of your slippery self? Who are the ones--who may not even know they did it but--who changed your life? Forever. 

Most importantly, who are the ones who--today--will get to enjoy the benefits of what you and I have learned? Family? Friends? Co-workers? Complete strangers? 

 Go get your best shoes. Let's go dancing.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.