So I came up with a brilliant plan for getting back into a routine of doing more social dancing: I bought an ATOMIC Ballroom Dance Pass and wrote Strutter’s Ball in my calendar for every Wednesday night. And this worked really well for about a month! I was going out consistently, highly enjoying myself while dancing to fantastic live music and chatting with friends. But then work started weighing heavily on me, I started feeling really run down, and all I wanted to do when I got home from work was have dinner, a glass of wine and watch “Master Chef,” or something to that effect. There were even a few days where I found myself with such little energy I would crawl into bed by 9 p.m. trying to catch up on sleep in order to feel better. I missed a few Wednesdays trying to rest up and recuperate from work; I just couldn’t imagine putting on dancing clothes and making the drive down to OC.

And then I went dancing again one Wednesday and realized something the following day: even though I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep, I wasn’t as tired as I had been the entire week before. I had dragged my tired self out dancing and ended up feeling better than I ever expected! Instead of struggling through Thursday at work, I was more alert and much happier. Sure, I was tired too, but it wasn’t anything that a slightly earlier bedtime couldn’t fix. I’ve noticed that this is a consistent effect; Thursdays after dancing are much more enjoyable than the lack of sleep would warrant! So now when I’m considering skipping my weekly commitment at Strutter’s Ball because I’m too tired, I remind myself how much better I will feel as soon as I walk in the door, hear Jonathan Stout and have my first dance. Being tired at work after a night of dancing is nothing compared to being tired at work because you’ve neglected doing something you love.

Hope to see you all out dancing soon!