Contra dancing is a little bit like life ...

I went contra dancing this weekend, and I found many aspects of it rather profound

First, no one likes a wet noodle. You must provide some tension in your arms when dancing. In life, too, I think people don't like people to be TOO easy-going. Doormats are for walking over because there's not much else to do with them. Yes-people are simply not trustworthy because no one agrees with you all the time, so by definition, yes-people must be lying, or evading the truth, sometimes, or, at best, have a vacuum of air in between their ears ...

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Second, if you smile and laugh and look your partner in the eye, no one really cares if you don't know what you are doing; even you as a beginner dancer care a lot less about not knowing what to do. When I was little, I used to think when you get older, there was an almost audible click at some point, and you instantly understood everything. That everything -- every judgement and choice -- would be so clear. There are no audible clicks, and we all live with uncertainty. But, if you smile and laugh and look at people and listen to them, most people -- even that little doubtful voice in your own head -- become very forgiving.

And if they are not forgiving, screw 'em: you'll change partners soon enough!

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Third, when you try something new, you may be a little sore the next day. I was a little sore from Contra dancing, I admit it. In life, too, you're not truly living if you don't experience some aches and pains, some trials and tribulations. Trying new things, using different muscles, can be ache-inducing, and there's no certainty you won't break (or at least embarass yourself, as I'm sure I did yesterday).

But if you never, ever take that first step onto that dance floor, you have to live with that curiousity, that intense itch of never knowing what fun you could have had, what success you could have achieved ...