Un-retirement

This is an essay on "why I decided not to retire." So, as I said many many months ago, I had already decided that if I didn't make either of the dance teams I tried out for, I'd go ahead and hang up my dance shoes, and be a real adult. Naturally, my mother tried to talk me out of this. My friends tried to talk me out of this. And most of the less than perceptive people in my world made many suggestions as to what I could do instead. (Grant it, they were just trying to be helpful -- but it was less helpful and more annoying).

Anyway, what actually changed my mind was an article I read in a local trade journal. It was about a lawyer who had a hobby of writing plays. He too, attempted to just keep it in the background -- something he did as a kid and in college. But eventually, he decided to just give in to the hobby. What he said, which rang true to me, is that a person cannot give up that which they loved to do as a child. For him, that was writing. For me, it's dancing. And gosh-darn-it, why should I fight it?

Besides, why retire before you're forced out? Well, I've got 7 months to get my act in gear. Darn shame I thought I was retiring...it'll be like starting all over again. (Including the 10 lbs I must have gained since the finals. *Sigh*. Why wasn't I born naturally skinny?)