September 7, 2009

Dance Yourself to Happiness
Anyone who loves to dance will find that it creates more than happiness. This column is going to be strictly a personal account of what dancing has done for me. Since I did not have partner (I am a widow of 17 years), I decided to take dance lessons. I had damaged my knees and was using a walker so I was not certain that I would be successful. I finally was able to walk, but my hips and knees hurt. When I first began I could barely complete one musical selection. My diabetes level and a number of other ailments (I’ll spare my readers the details) were in bad shape. I can dance for at least one half hour without stopping now.

The first emotion that I felt was a total sense of joy as I became more and more proficient on the dance floor.

My ailments began to improve considerably and the painfulness in my body disappeared. (Sometimes it reappeared when I was no longer dancing.) However, in time I began to be pain free.

Next I began to lose weight. (I still am). Presently I have lost 33 pounds since I began in March of 2009 and as I write this it is September 6th, 2009. I know that I will continue to lose 27 more pounds in order to obtain my goal as the dancing motivates me to try.

In October, I will be 76 years old so it was not too unusual that my short term memory was giving me problems such as reaching for a word that I knew; it would take me forever to bring it to my mind. I no longer have that as a recurring problem, although occasionally (as with everyone) I search my vocabulary and it evades me temporarily.

So I have become improved physically, medically, emotionally, and mentally. My muscles have become firmer and trimmer over my entire body. Plus I have become younger at heart. People tell me I look younger and that I am glowing.

If you want to see me dance come to the Diabetes Fund Raiser at the Nassau Coliseum on Oct. 11th. Watch for the advertisements about it.

And I hope that you, also, dance yourself to happiness and youth.