SALLY'S STORY
It's amazing how, every now and then, we'll make a seemingly mundane decision having no idea that it will change our lives.
Several years ago I was idly flicking through the TV guide when I came across an entry for something called 'Feet of Flames'. A dance show, huh? Could be interesting. I made a decision to watch it, and promptly forgot all about it for the rest of the week. Thank goodness I remembered it again just in time to flick the TV on.
In the split second it took for Michael Flatley to burst onstage in a blaze of golden light, I realised I'd found something I never knew I'd been looking for all my life. I felt an instant connection as though I was recognising a friend, and I felt, more than a surge of energy, a surge of life. By the time the credits started rolling two hours later, I was ready to conquer the world!
Initially it was a little disconcerting to find that a mere dance show I'd seen on TV could give me such a high, but heck, if I'd found something legal that could make me feel so alive, why should I resist? And somehow I knew it was not just the dance that gave me this feeling, more specifically it was this man, Michael Flatley. Instinctively I knew that he was special - or that he was meant to be a very special presence in my life.
I had to find out more about the man with the Feet of Flames, so I hit the 'Net. Hours vanished in the blink of an eye as I pored over every website I could find about him - and there were a LOT of them. But almost immediately I began to realise that one distinct thread wove its way through everything that had to do with Michael - a thread comprised of three little words, 'follow your dream'.
I refuse to believe it was mere coincidence that brought Michael and his message into my life at a time when I was almost literally looking for a sign that it was OK to follow my heart instead of my head. My heart wanted me to enrol in a Bachelor of Arts to study Literature and hopefully become a writer. My head wanted me to 'get a real job'. Then Michael came along and told me to follow my dream, so I did.
Not only did the university accept my application, they gave me a scholarship so I didn't have to pay thousands of dollars in fees.
It's been a long road, and I've had to postpone my studies more than once because of health issues. These hiccups could have been very discouraging, but with Michael cheering me on in the back of my mind, I've never considered quitting. When I've been well enough to do the work, I've loved it, and now I am so close to finishing my degree I can almost taste it! I have no regrets, only gratitude that Michael came along to tell me 'follow your dream' when I most needed to hear it.
But Michael doesn't just motivate me to study. His presence in my life does so much more than that. What Michael's inspiration has given me is something I need and use every day: courage. When I first heard Michael utter these words he could have been speaking directly to me - as far as I'm concerned, he was:
'Pain is an unusual thing. You just have to realise that it's going to be there a lot; it's going to be there nearly all the time. If it's not physical it's emotional, it can be spiritual. You're always going to have to deal with it. It might sound crazy, but you almost have to make it your friend. And you have to realise that you can't ignore it, you have to work through it all the time. But you can never afford to let it get the better of you, because it's always going to be there. If you start making excuses because there's pain, you'll never get anywhere.' (http://www.michaelflatley.com/specialfeature02.cfm)
I am in a wheelchair and, more to the point, in pain 24/7; I developed progressive Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 16 months, and have been using a wheelchair since the age of 11 (I am now 28). Michael gives me the courage to live every day with the pain and frustration that comes with this battered body of mine; and more than this, Michael gives me the courage to transcend my physical limitations, as much and as often as I can, so that I can follow my dreams, too. To me, that is a gift indeed.
Just what is it about Michael that inspires me so? It’s the pure, unabashed joy of his dance. It’s the way he’s proven that hard work and determination can take a person from digging ditches in Chicago to dancing centre-stage at Madison Square Garden. And there’s no denying it – it’s also the energy he radiates, so constantly and so palpably, an energy so powerful you can practically see it. An energy that gives meaning to the words ‘Nothing is impossible. Follow your dream.’
I am, and I will.
Thank you, Michael Flatley.