Attitude IS Everything!

I'm going to start with a story. Recently I went to Rexburg, ID with my ballroom dance team to go to a dance competition. We brought Standard and a Latin medley, and we were very excited. We got there, and did really well at our practice time on the floor, and we knew we were going to blow everyone away. Unfortunately, when we performed Standard, we cracked under pressure. The first half was amazing, and then it all fell apart. We were 8 points behind everyone else in our scoring. I was heartbroken! I had done my personal worst in that performance, and I had to fight back tear while getting ready for Latin. On Latin we did AMAZING....except for I fell on my face. (:P) We were 5 points behind everyone else in the scoring. After that performance, I couldn't help it. I broke down. I cried, and cried, and cried. I was so upset that I had, "ruined both routines" and we had done "so bad" and "it was all my fault". A towards the end of the day, I was still put out and not happy with it at all. The second day we were there, I was still upset, but chose not to think about it because it was painful for me. 

I tell you this story because since I have gotten back, I have realized that my team DID do well! Maybe not so much in Standard (I'm not degrading the performance, I just watched the recording and know that we can do better), but in Latin we did INCREDIBLE! It was our best performance yet (except for me falling on my face), and I have finally decided that I don't need to be mad at myself for our performance! We were going against teams who practice for 10-40 hours a week. We practice 9 hours a month. I have truly realized that attitude is everything. Yes, I could be bitter and mad that we took last place in everything, but I choose not to. Why? Because that doesn't get me anywhere! I know that you have negative energy towards something in your life. Something that you feel was your personal worst. Yes, in Standard, that was my personal worst. So? I learn from it and move on. I can now get better every time. Now I have a standard (haha, a standard in Standard? Get it?? bahahaha!) for myself of what I can accomplish. I have learned that attitude is everything. If I chose to be upset about getting  last, I wouldn't gain anything. My dancing talent would decrease. I would become rusty. I could do other things for an activity that weren't the best. I could end up a whole different person. 

Having a positive attitude needs to be genuine for it to work, however. You need to KNOW that whatever you did, you gave your all, and to realize that sometimes these things will help us later in life. How? I have no clue. You'll have to find that out. But positive energy and believing in oneself really can make a difference.

Til next time!