Too Tired to Dance

What's with that?! I'm never too tired to dance! But last night by the end of the 2-group-dance-class-marathon that I endured, I was weary.

My brain couldn't absorb any more knowledge, my feet were sore, my balance was off and I was ready to go home.

45 minutes is about the perfect amount of time to spend absorbing new information and putting it to use in the dance world.

The first 45 minute lesson was wonderful. My dance instructor (who normally leads this class) has been off with an injury the past few weeks so the owner of the studio took his place. There was a 4 female to 1 male ratio last night, so I had to be in the 'lead' position a lot of the time. This is usually enough to send my stress levels through the roof ... but not last night.

My body and brain were up to the challenge. It doesn't mean that I succeeded, but I did try.

There is a lot of 'brain work' that goes into leading, when dancing. The lead has to plan about a half of a beat ahead of where they are at. I assume that there must be an autopilot that their brain starts to go on after a while, but it certainly makes me appreciate the challenge that a new 'lead dancer' faces every time that I must dance a mile in their shoes.

Being taught by a different instructor was also an unexpectedly pleasant change. I'm comfortable with my instructor, I enjoy his rapport and humor and I learn a little along the way. I've been taught by this other instructor at different stages of my dancing and he challenges a different part of my brain. Not always the part of my brain I want to challenge when I'm geared up for fun on the dance floor. But variety is the spice of life.

By the time the second 45 minute lesson came, I was teetering on overload. But it was a new instructor, a new dance and a different part of the brain and body challenge. So it worked out okay. Until the last 15 minutes. I was pretty much spent. No brain or body power left.

I came home, watched Kurt play 'Dance Dance Dynamics' on the Wii. I took a few turns in between stuffing myself with a bag of Ruffles Potato Chips (nothing healthy about them - I pretty much ate a whole days worth of calories in the half hour I watched Kurt work out on the Wii).

I went to bed early, slept like a log and tried to act ambitious this morning. I turned on the 'Wii Fit' and spent 50 minutes going through the paces. My body just wasn't working like it is capable of working. I'm tuckering out.

The thing about energy levels is, the more you do ... the more you can do. Slow down for a while ... and watch out. It's hard to rev up the energy and ambition again.

Dancing is a little bit like that. You have to slow it down to an almost unbearable pace to absorb all the technicalities of what you need to learn to make the most of your dance lesson dollar. But ... the more you move, laugh and have fun ... the more energy you have to put onto the floor.

I'm in the 'lead' position in my life. I'm always half of a beat ahead from where I need to be and my brain is continually anticipating the next move as I direct the kids, family and work flow through my days.

As long as I keep moving, my energy remains high. If I stop too long to think, I'm too tired to 'dance' through my days.

So I'm pretty content to just 'play' and follow the leader on the dance floor. When I have to work too hard, I am simply ... too tired to dance.