When I was young, proper little girls took music and dance lessons to become proper young ladies.  So naturally my Mom enrolled me in dance class in the hopes that I would grow up to be a proper young lady some day.  I was 6 years-old and really hadn’t ventured much beyond my neighborhood so I was awed by the dance studio with its spacious room and wall to wall sparkling oversized mirrors.  The dance teacher, Miss Mombray, was encouraging and was assisted by two teenage girls who seemed so perfect in every way that I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to be most like when I grew up.

So there I was in dance class with my fat, pudgy cheeks and eyes that looked as big as saucers underneath my “of the moment” page-boy bangs.  I quickly picked up the steps and while I enjoyed the elegance of ballet, it was the energy and snappy movements of tap that I loved the most.  I clickety-clacked my way around the floor and couldn’t remember when I’d had more fun!

At the end of the year we prepared for the annual recital where all the little students would show off their newly acquired skills to a room full of proud parents.  My tap class was performing to “Lollipop” by the Chordettes and I couldn’t have been more excited.  The costume was a white leotard with tights and the Moms made tutu’s out of cotton-candy pink netting and cut a lollipop out of colored felt which was glued down the center of the leotard.

I practiced the steps of the dance every chance I got, but really struggled with the last move which was a cartwheel.  It was the pièce de résistance of the dance and it just wasn’t working for me.  I would spend what seemed like hours in my front yard practicing my cartwheel with my sister and friends.  I would tip over to the left, tip over to the right, or just not get my little legs up high enough to make it all the way around.  We would collapse on the grass from exhaustion, laughing hysterically at my attempts to master that cartwheel.

The big day finally came and I put on my costume complete with felt lollipop.  We went out to the front yard to snap some pictures, so I demonstrated my best shuffle-ball-change step and decided on a whim to attempt the cartwheel.  I smiled, pointed my little foot, raised my arms overhead, started to rotate around, and much to my surprise, executed the perfect lollipop cartwheel!  I couldn’t have been more excited and my Dad snapped the picture just as I landed on my feet with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen!

It’s been a long time since that day in my front yard and I can honestly say that I doubt that I could execute a cartwheel today.  But that day I learned the value of persistence, hard work, and a support network of good friends.  So next time you’re feeling a little overwhelmed or “stuck”, just smile, point yourself in the right direction, and start rotating towards your goal.  And you too will have executed the perfect lollipop cartwheel!