Partying in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong brings back memories.  Those of you who know me know that I love to dance.  Those of you who have seen me dance say that I’m pretty good at it.  But as much as I would love to have someone to dance with, I tend to do my own thing.  Example: When dancing to hip hop at a club, I’m pretty effective at shaking off guys who try to dance on me.  I just dance to my own beat, and when a guy tries to come and dance up on me, he usually gets frustrated and leaves because he just can’t keep up with me. 

In fact, there has only been one time in my life when complete stranger has successfully danced with me.  I’ll never see him again, but the two nights I spent dancing with him in Hong Kong about a year ago were the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had on a dance floor.  It was all about action and reaction… taking turns driving the movement… dancing on own our own but also together at the same time.  It was that type of experience that I wish I could duplicate, but I’m not sure anything will ever match up to it.  I guess part of what made the experience so incredible was that a) he was an awesome dancer, b) he was the first person I’d ever met who had been able to adapt to and keep my rhythm, and c) I was so impressed by a) and b) that I actually let myself adapt to his beat as well. 

That last bit is probably I have trouble partner-dancing with guys who try all sorts of complicated moves on me.  Going out salsa dancing last night crystallized the fact that I will never be a great dance partner because I just can’t seem to follow the guy’s lead.  Well, maybe “can’t” is the wrong word… more like “won’t”.  I’m just so used to doing what I want to do when I dance, it’s difficult for me to relinquish all control to my dance partner. 

Is that a problem?  Is it wrong to want to have those dancing experiences when two people move as one even though I refuse to completely follow a lead?  I guess my experience last year makes me think that I can have my cake and eat it too.  Maybe I just need find somebody who can lead me while still allowing me to do my own thing… Or someone with whom I have such good chemistry that I don’t mind following wherever he leads.

Oh! I wanna dance with somebody

I wanna feel the heat with somebody

Yeah, wanna dance with somebody

…

Alright, so it's been about seven weeks since the new year, and I've been pretty good about sticking to my mantras:

1) Do now what you can do now.

2) Let it go.

3) Don't worry, everything will be fine.

Due to changes in my situation, the last two mantras are no longer as relevant, so I'm focusing on the first one and am adding a couple more.  While keeping these thoughts in mind have enabled me to make small (but numerous) steps in the right direction,  now I've decided to group together these little everyday decisions to form good habits.  So here are the habits I'd like to work on for the next few months:

1) Do now what you can do now

2) Be healthy

3) Keep in touch.

More specifically, for the next month, my goals are:

1) If it takes less than 60 seconds, do it now.

2) Stick to frequent meals and portion control.  Exercise at least 3 times a week.

3) Reconnect with an old friend each week.

I realize not many people will read this, or call me out if they see me breaking one of my new habits, but I figured putting it all in writing somewhere will help me adhere to my new goals.  Here's to baby steps in the right direction.

p.s.

Suddenly a tune and the line "Put one foot in front of the other" popped in my head.  Anyone know where that's from?  I think it's from some Christmas claymation movie, but I can't quite recall the scene, characters, or rest of the song.  Shoot me an email if you know this one!