Herpes doesn't stop you dancing with life.

[lelani]

Gosh it has been ages since I have posted messages and this new year has come and gone...another time of reflection.

 

I have had Herpes for about three years now (I realise I can't remember...gone are the days of knowing how many weeks or months!). I also realise I am happy with having it...not that I have it but happy with the life I have created since contracting it. For the first couple of years I wasn't sure I could ever say that, despite my seemingly positive attitude.

 

From being alone, and almost resigning myself to staying that way, I am now in a committed relationship with someone who is H-. I have moved to another part of the country to be with him, got a great job that has been challenging and now am starting a greater job I will love even more. Life has been busy, scary, exciting and full...and there seems to be less time these days to focus on Herpes episodes when they come up...where they used to be the biggest thing in my life now they are a minor inconvenience.

 

I had a foot injury last March and that has been more painful, expensive and limiting that Herpes ever has been. It turns out that years of dancing have damaged my feet and arthritis is through the joints...This New Year I stayed home because I can't dance anymore and the thought of only being able to watch others dance was too sad. Herpes didn't stop me dancing...and over a year ago I decided I didn't want it to stop me dancing with life.

 

And the things I have learned along the way with H? Rejection...That person is actually doing you a favour. Shame...is a good lesson in giving up judgement of EVERYTHING. Loneliness...gives us valuable time to cultivate solitude. Gratitude...if you express it every day good things keep coming to you. Love...Herpes peels back the layers of ourselves we don't want to see or feel, it transforms us and offers us an opportunity to shine above all of our negative and limiting beliefs of ourselves and life.

 

So yes you can still dance with life if you have herpes...you are thrown on to the dancefloor not knowing what to do, feeling scared and inadequate. You learn small steps to get better...and you suck at them at the beginning but you practice and then feel more confident. You trip up but you pick yourself up and try again...slowly the trips get less and you enjoy the dance more. You accept looking silly or embarrassed and enjoy it anyway, you dance with more people (and get turned down sometimes) and one day you realise you dance easily and you want to try more complicated steps, and you know with practice you can do them (and that the people who turn you down for a dance aren't worth dancing with anyway!). And then when you dance with people who aren't quite as experienced as you...you help them, teach them and make sure they enjoy the dance with you.

 

Yep getting Herpes is like learning to dance...only the steps build your character so you can dance with life more freely and happily. I wish you all a wonderful year of learning and dancing with life...Herpes might be a challenging partner but one I am grateful for...it has brought me wonderful people, made me a better person and allowed me to be a light for others. Big hugs for 2014. xx

 

[WCSDancer2010]

And the things I have learned along the way with H? Rejection...That person is actually doing you a favour. Shame...is a good lesson in giving up judgement of EVERYTHING. Loneliness...gives us valuable time to cultivate solitude. Gratitude...if you express it every day good things keep coming to you. Love...Herpes peels back the layers of ourselves we don't want to see or feel, it transforms us and offers us an opportunity to shine above all of our negative and limiting beliefs of ourselves and life.

 

LOVE IT!

 

What kind of dance did you do? I travel a lot for West Coast swing :)

 

And your analogy of dancing is sooooo true - the dance floor was where I got over my rejection issues :p

[victoriaxxx]

You know that reminds me of when I go to my parties. That I help host and dance. Once i am on that dance floor. I am stomping my heart out. For that moment all of us on that floor are connected, are one. We share this happiness, our sadness, this moment ! That we know in the end of it all that we are going to be okay !