LAUNCH Update...Zumba!

In January, I decided to link up with OneWord365 and select a word for the year that would shape the way 2013 looked for me.  I chose the word LAUNCH for various reasons, but mostly because I felt like I had a jillion lists of things I wanted to accomplish and loads of time to do it all, but for some reason at the end of a day or a week, they were still left undone. Not things like laundry or dishes...I rarely leave household tasks undone.  But the bigger things that will move me toward fulfillment and greater satisfaction in my life, like pursuing a purposeful method of scripture study, and getting a Masters degree, and being part of an organized choir, and finding new super powers...those things seemed to be eluding me month after month.  LAUNCH seemed to be the perfect word to remind me all year to move toward some of those lofty goals.  

To kick off my LAUNCHY-ness, I joined a gym, because...well, everyone joins a gym in January...and because I like to stay at 72 degrees at all times, even during exercise.  I found a nice little secluded "women only" part of the gym that had a couple of elliptical machines, a handful of treadmills, and played estrogen movies on a giant screen 24 hours a day.  Supremely comfortable...

But...should comfortable really be part of an exercise plan?

A week or so later, I passed the huge classroom full of women and thought I might need to step up my exercise routine a little.  I love exercise classes.  I love crazy loud music.  I love exercising with a group of people who motivate me to keep going.  I love that a room filled with people holds me a little bit captive for the entire hour so I'm less likely to sneak out.  

So I casually grabbed a class schedule.  

And guess what!  They had ZUMBA classes!  For years...seriously, YEARS!  I have wanted to try a ZUMBA class.  I have a million friends who have raved about them.  I have a super cool aunt who is a Zumba freak!  But the exercising planets never aligned for me to find a class or location that fit into my schedule...until January.  

You would think that seeing that calendar on my fridge filled with Zumba opportunities would have pushed me to GO TO ONE, right?  Well, it didn't.   Every week, I intended to walk into that Zumba class but instead walked into the dark little media room and watched Bride Wars or Sleepless in Seattle for the 50th time.  

I have no idea why I was such a chicken.  I was worried about looking silly.  I was worried everyone but me would know what they were doing.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up.  Blah...too much worrying!

But then, while we were in Florida, one of the hotels we stayed in happened to be hosting the 2013 ZUMBA CONVENTION.  (Who knew Zumba conventions even existed??)  

It was so fun to watch these amazing and vibrant people milling about the hotel.  They looked fun, fit, happy and just like you would imagine Zumba instructors would look.  And I took that little glimpse into the Zumba world as a sign that I needed to stop being such a chicken and just get my bottom into that class at the earliest opportunity.  

So that's exactly what I did on Monday morning.  

I got there 40 minutes before the class started, so I could stop by my comfort zone and do 30 minutes on the elliptical, just in case I chickened out of the class again.  And then at exactly 8:55, I made myself walk into the Zumba class...like actually all the way inside the room!  I scoped out an inconspicuous spot and watched as one person after another filed in there with me.  I'm sure there were at least 80 of us in there.  I was SO nervous.  But then the instructor turned on the music, and all of a sudden I didn't care one bit about what anyone else was wearing, how great they were at keeping up with the moves, or how uncoordinated I am.  Instead, I just shook stuff and moved stuff and danced for a whole hour!  And ket me tell you, that hour totally flew by.  I was completely drenched in sweat.  And I absolutely LOVED it!!   

Oh, and do you know how many calories you burn in a 60 minute Zumba class??  714!!  That's all I need to b completed and totally hooked.  

And guess what I thought when I walked out?  

I thought, "Why in the heck did I not start this 6 months ago??"  

I don't have a good answer to that.  But I do know that being paralyzed with fear and doubt 
gets you no closer to your goals.  I know that being out in that brightly lit room with all those other people dancing around to blaring Latin music made me feel better than all 6 months of being on the elliptical in that dark little media room.  

You cannot find fulfillment sitting (or walking on a treadmill) in the dark all by yourself.

So, I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, I can now check off another 2013 personal goal of LAUNCH-ing into the Zumba world.  I will be happily and confidently adding Zumba classes into my regular weekly schedule.  And who knows...maybe someday, I'll even go to a ZUMBA Convention!  Because wouldn't it be awesome to "shake the world?"