Continue To Thrive

My favorite quote from The Professional Semester is, "Leave the past in the past or else it will become your future." This sentence says it all when you are trying to make positive changes in your life. If you hold on desperately to people or situations that you see as negative, then you will continue to have negative outcomes.

In a few days, The Professional Semester will be a past event in my life. In this case, I do not want to leave this past event behind. I want to bring it into my future because it had such a positive impact on my life. Starting from day one we had inspirational conversations about dedication, inner peace, being present at all times, and being our very best selves. Having this kind of support system that always reminds me why I dance and how much potential I have is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive.

I think it's important to leave negative emotions in the past because it is not healthy to hold on to something that affects your over-all well being. But, if something or someone has a positive impact on you, I believe you should do anything in your power to carry that with you for the rest of your life. Just remember, positive and negative only exist in your mind. Events are events, nothing else. And your emotions are not who you are. Every moment contributes to your future, so changing your perspective about one little thing could change your entire life. Here are some more quotes from The Professional Semester that help me see everything in a better way.

• "Happy to be here and ready to work!"
• "Life is the audition."
• "Treat every class like it's your last."
• "Breathe and begin again."
• "Dance to express, not to impress."
• "Have an attitude of gratitude."
• "Abandon helplessness and powerlessness."
• "Leave the past in the past."
• "Don't take anything personally."
• "Befriend the process."
• "Your imperfections are your perfections."
• "Know that what you have to give is good enough."
• "Your goal is to affect the audience."
• "It's not enough to be a good dancer, you have to be a good person."
• "Abundance begets abundance."
• "Be solution oriented."
• "Being positive is the work of life."

The list could go on and on because at Broadway Dance Center we are always lifting each other up. This is how the dance world should be, and it's up to every single dancer to bring a positive energy to auditions, class, and performances. On the subway ride home, I thought of concrete steps that I can take when I move back to Maryland that will help me achieve my goal. My goal is to continue to cultivate everything that this program has given me physically, mentally, and emotionally, even after it is over.

I am going to design an exercise program that I can do at home that includes stretching, and I am going to make sure that I get into class every week. This is going to be difficult without the unlimited classes that NYC offers, but I want to keep my body in top physical shape. Right now, I feel better than I ever have in 4 years, so I am going to try to replicate the physical activity that I got during this semester.

Not only am I going to focus on my physical body, but I am going to focus on my inner health as well. This experience has given me the strength, confidence, and faith that I had temporarily lost. I feel happy, powerful, and grateful, and I want to feel this way for the rest of my life. I plan on reviewing my Professional Semester journal regularly because it holds so much inspiration and valuable information. I also want to practice meditation and work on finding that inner peace that we all desire. When you are simply being, you are present in everything you do.

It is possible to make good feelings last a lifetime, but it is a continuous practice. It is guarunteed that you will have some set backs and challenges, but it's all about how you react to them. If you make a promise to yourself, believe in your capabilites, and set specific goals, anything is possible.