July 1, 2025 • 18 mins
Rich Easton shares how learning to deal with discomfort can transform your life, illustrated through his unexpected journey into salsa dancing and observations about our cultural priorities.
• Congressional hearings on UFOs and non-human beings are severely underreported compared to celebrity gossip
• Modern social behavior includes disruptive trends like filming in movie theaters and throwing objects at performers
• Stepping outside your comfort zone is essential for personal growth and developing adaptability
• Approaching new experiences with curiosity rather than certainty leads to better outcomes
• Rich's salsa dancing adventure demonstrates how quickly discomfort can transform into enjoyment
If you enjoyed this episode, follow Just Tales for more monthly hybrids of fictional and non-fictional stories from beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
This episode's a completedeparture from my golf advice or
crazy golfer stories.
(00:52):
It's about learning to dealwith discomfort and then finding
a way to make chicken salad outof alligator shit.
It's my metaphor I can do whatI want.
I can do what I want.
It's not about thecongressional hearings on UFOs,
where Ryan Graves, david Grushand David Fravor all highly
decorated and highly rankedofficials disclosed that we've
(01:14):
been visited by non-human beingsand have captured their
spacecraft when I say their, Idon't know their pronouns and
we've re-engineered them fordecades trying to figure out
what their power source is.
Did y'all hear that there arenon-human species around us and
(01:35):
hidden in secret labs deep underthe earth where we are studying
them and trying to understandtheir energy source?
I mean, it was probably themost underreported and
underemphasized hot topic of theweek.
Nancy Mace, our attractivelyeffective congresswoman from
Charleston, was criticized forspending too much time talking
(01:59):
about her role in theCongressional Oversight
Committee on this subject,instead of focusing on our
economy, homelessness andunemployment.
You know, the media lost theirminds when they buried the
headlines with something likeCongresswoman, distracted by
little green men.
I mean, holy shit people.
(02:21):
Most every religion from thebeginning of time speaks to man
as the ultimate creation inGod's image.
And there's this gray alienwith big bug eyes sitting in a
containment cell 50 feet underthe Earth's surface, using
mental telepathy to communicatehuman insignificance in the
(02:41):
universe.
I could just imagine Fox News'broadcast.
Thanks, barb.
It seems that our government hasbeen hiding information about
extraterrestrial beings andspacecraft.
Meanwhile, hunter Biden hasbeen abusing his father's role
in the government to amassfortunes and consulting fees,
(03:03):
and the Democrats are sweepingit under the rug.
Hello McFly.
Mcfly, are you in there?
We have been visited bynon-humans for years, centuries,
maybe even pre-homo sapiens,and the issue is about Hunter
Biden.
You know, at least in the movieIndependence Day, all countries
(03:26):
band together to watch WillSmith and Jeff Goldblum smoke a
cigar after the fat lady sangand save the world.
And in the movie Men in Blackwe watch Tommy Lee Jones and
Will Smith save the universefrom intergalactic terrorists
and then watched Will Smith inAfter Earth.
(03:47):
Hey, wait a minute.
It seems like Will Smith is inthe middle of everything alien.
I wonder what Chris Rock has tosay about that.
My point is that the mostriveting news this past week
about a secret agency formed toinvestigate and cover up all
alien contact was just exposed.
(04:09):
And we're all sitting at hometrying to figure out what's the
best time to watch the Barbiemovie and Oppenheimer.
I mean, it's crazy to thinkthat we've just been informed
that we're not alone in theuniverse and someone in very
hush-hush places have known fora long time and have stifled
others for exposing them.
(04:30):
But to most of us, who PeteDavidson is sleeping with this
week holds much higher weightwhat is wrong with us?
You know, in speaking of what'swrong with us, I think that the
(04:57):
word people should be acceptedas a one-word sentence and the
inflection would be as followsPeople.
Let me explain.
Has anyone ever told you theirexperience when somebody wronged
them, insulted them,disrespected them, cut them off
on the road, causing anear-death experience?
(05:19):
I mean, I could go on and onabout human behavior and the
selfish acts of others.
That annoys us and gets underour skin.
Whenever I hear those stories,I always respond with one word
people.
Now, typically when I say thatword, it's often followed by the
(05:41):
word sucks by the other personwho just told the story.
Let me offer two examples.
To make a case in point,there's a new phenomenon
happening when a new movie hitsthe big screen, gen Zers are
making TikToks by filming partsof the movie.
Some of them who are commentingand commentating movie, some of
(06:07):
them who are commenting andcommentating.
It's distracting enough whensomeone near you is texting on
their phone during a movie.
I mean the lit screen on theircell phone can clearly take your
eyes off the big screen in adark theater.
Now imagine they're holdingtheir phones up in the air to
capture the moment and talkingat the same time.
I don't know about you, but forme one of the draws of the big
(06:29):
screen is being totally immersedin the film while possibly
finishing my popcorn rightbefore the opening scene.
I mean it's a total escape fromour everyday lives.
Cell phone distractionsmitigates that overwhelming
feeling of being drawn into theworld that directors and actors
(06:50):
spent years perfecting People.
Or what is it with concert goersthat feel like their personal
experience is more importantthan those around them or, even
worse, more important than theperformers.
I or even worse, more importantthan the performers I've always
thought it was in bad taste forpeople to get up from their
(07:10):
seats in the middle of a song ora scene, particularly if
they're an eye shot of theperformer.
I mean, I think they might bethe same people as those making
TikToks in movie theaters.
And there's this new phenomenonfor concert goers that get
close to the front and throwshit at performers.
(07:32):
Baby Rexha, adele, harry Styles, drake, kelsey Ballerini, ava
Max, bruno Mars, ariana Grande,justin Bieber Okay, maybe he
deserved it All have been hit bystuff that patrons throw at
them Bottles, cans, cell phones,drinks, you name it.
(07:53):
And recently Cardi B got hitwith a drink and returned the
favor by throwing her mic backat the fan's head, perhaps even
hitting the wrong fan when shedid it.
When did that become okay to do?
And I think it might be whenTikTok and Instagram started
(08:15):
compensating for viral events.
Instagram started compensatingfor viral events.
Going viral has become thegolden ticket for those who
can't find a more conventionalor respected way of paying their
(08:36):
bills.
People, I tell you, people.
Okay, so this episode is aboutliving with discomfort.
Most of us, probably all of us,have been put in situations
where we're just not comfortablewith the task we have to do,
the people we're surrounded by,or just about anything that's
outside of normally what we do,anything that's outside of
(09:01):
normally what we do.
Sometimes I find thosesituations motivate me to figure
things out quicker so I couldput myself in a more comfortable
situation.
Learning anything new is allabout that.
That's why so many people quitnew things, because the failure
rate is so high.
Nobody likes to do thingsthey're not good at,
particularly when others arewatching, but sometimes you
(09:22):
can't avoid it.
New jobs, new towns, newacquaintances Some of those
things are thrust upon us and wecould either complain about it
and talk about how nothing's thesame as it used to be, or we
could find some kind of solace,find commonality between people,
find a small niche of peoplewith common interests.
(09:44):
If you're fortunate to go awayto college and you're not going
with your best friends from highschool, that's a perfect
example of going into asituation where you know
virtually nothing.
You know no one and you have tofigure it out or you fail.
This podcast is not about golf,but certainly people taking up
(10:05):
the sport for the first time.
It's so awkward, it's sounnatural and it's so fraught
with failure that people eitherquit or break a lot of clubs or,
even worse, make everybody elsearound them feel as badly as
they feel All right.
So why am I saying all of this?
Back in early July, a friend ofmine that I see at the gym often
(10:28):
told me that on Tuesday nightshe was going downtown Charleston
because there's this salsanight at a jazz club, at the
Forte Jazz Club.
It really wasn't what he saidabout.
It was really about theenthusiasm that he displayed
when he was talking about thisgreat Tuesday night experience.
(10:50):
So let's call him Rico Suave.
When Rico explained the amountof fun he was having and the
profile of the people that werethere, I couldn't help but say
alright, buddy, I'll join youthis one time.
We'll drive downtown and seewhat this whole thing's all
about.
He even asked if I wanted todrive down with him, but it just
(11:14):
so happened.
I had a telephone call I had tomake and it also gave me the
flexibility to have an earlyexit strategy in case things
didn't go as I had hoped.
So I get downtown, I get to theclub, I'm greeted at the door by
the owner, joe, who seems toknow how to run clubs.
He was gracious, welcoming andgave us the lay of the land.
(11:35):
So as I'm walking in the club,you have to go through this
hallway, make some turns, and asyou're getting closer to the
room where the music and thedancers are, it gets louder.
Getting closer to the roomwhere the music and the dancers
are, it gets louder and youcould clearly hear the music.
That was distinguishably Latinmusic.
So now, for some reason, myheart starts racing.
(12:08):
I'm not sure if it was mostlyout of fear or appreciation for
that beat that never stops, andmaybe both are true.
So Rico and I get to thesefront tables right in front of
the dance floor, and herecognizes some people that he's
seen there before and heintroduces me Now.
That certainly broke the iceand somewhat quelled my
discomfort.
(12:29):
After the introductions, ricoimmediately puts his hand out to
this gal and asks her to dance,goes right out on the dance
floor and it looks like afterwatching him start to dance with
her, it looks like they bothhad been there before.
That left me sitting at a tableand watching 20 couples moving,
(12:49):
spinning, gyrating their hipslike Shakira.
(13:12):
But for me I kind of felt like Iwas back in junior high school
at the homecoming dance.
Back then it might have takenme the entire evening to ask a
girl to dance.
This happened to me so manytimes.
I just couldn't get up thecourage and I'd wait, and I'd
wait, and I'd wait and really itwould be the last dance when
(13:34):
they said last call, where Ifinally got up the courage.
And then when I danced, I'mlike why the heck didn't I start
doing this earlier?
You know, I'd sit there injunior high school and watch
these girls dance and spend thenext hour or so at the punch
bowl building up enough courageto ask that one girl that I'd
been stalking.
I know that sounds creepy, butmy lexicon lacks depth and width
(13:58):
.
So I was watching all thesegirls and maybe I'd eyeball one
particular one.
Anyway, back to salsa.
So Rico now comes back from hisfirst or second dance and I am
now on my second margarita.
Don't judge, I needed sociallubricant.
He's like hey, rich, go asksomebody to dance.
(14:20):
That's really all I needed tostart my engine.
That and the two margaritas.
When we walked in, ricointroduced me to this couple of
women.
I'll call them Jenny from theblock and Blondie.
Jenny seemed like a natural andnever left the dance floor.
Now I knew she was not going tobe my first dance experience,
(14:41):
because she seemed to know waytoo many moves.
Now Blondie, on the other hand,was looking at me and it looked
like you know, she seemed likedeer in the headlights.
She was more fearful than I wasPerfect for a first dance for
me.
I figured what's the worst thatcould happen.
She'd say no, I'm no worse forthe wear.
She says yes and we both failtogether.
(15:04):
So she says yes and as we'rewalking up to the dance floor,
she basically tells me hey, takeit easy, I'm a beginner.
It's like what a relief.
What I learned from her is thather discomfort far outweighed
mine and that I could readilyfigure out some of the steps.
(15:24):
That epiphany fueled me for therest of the evening.
Mind you, I didn't know a thingabout leading my dance partner.
Heck, I couldn't lead a troopof soldiers into the mess all
that night, but I had this fireburning inside me to learn Now.
Thankfully, jenny from theblock had the patience to allow
me to fail long enough tochannel my inner Tony Manero,
(15:47):
johnny Castle and Ren McCormick.
The major difference betweensalsa night and the eighth grade
dance was at salsa night, notone woman said no.
When I extended my hand todance Talk about an ego boost.
Talk about an ego boost mydiscomfort quickly changed to
(16:08):
hey, not only can I do this, butI really enjoy this.
You know, I guess dancing islike golf and sex you don't have
to be good to enjoy it, but itcertainly helps.
Sitting in discomfort takes aspecial skill that takes time to
develop.
It's much easier to live smallin your life, find a daily
(16:30):
routine where you can anticipatethe outcome of things as long
as things around you don'tchange, and it's far easier and
less angst in your life when youlive smaller.
You know, my daughter, duringevery job interview, tells the
story about being moved fromChicago to Philadelphia in her
junior year in high school andas a result, she's developed a
(16:54):
skill set for adapting to newthings quickly and that has just
about landed her almost everyjob.
Part of adapting is sitting indiscomfort and then doing
something about it.
Learn something new and getbetter at it, meet new people
and learn how they do things.
As long as you're curious andwant to learn, your discomfort
(17:16):
shouldn't last as long as itmight seem to.
When you first try somethingnew, be curious, not certain,
you'll be better off for it.
And in case you're wondering,I've been to five salsa nights
and still enjoy everything aboutit, despite the fact that my
arsenal of male lead movescouldn't load a pop gun.
(17:37):
But that doesn't stop me.
And despite the fact that I wasrejected by this one sultry
5'11" 30-something-year-old galdance maniac Didn't stop me from
extending my hand to the nextgaggle of willing salsa
participants from all around theglobe Germany, italy, puerto
(17:59):
Rico, russia and Turkey.
Look at me, I'm James freakingBond, probably more like Austin
Powers.
Oh, behave, yeah, yeah, baby.
I think it's time for dancelessons.
Perhaps it's time to channelthat John Clark character To
(18:23):
find a J-Lo-like teacher to helpme take it to the next level.
You've been listening toanother episode from Just Tales.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
(18:45):
Charleston, south Carolina.
Talk to you soon.
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
This episode's a completedeparture from my golf advice or
crazy golfer stories.
(00:52):
It's about learning to dealwith discomfort and then finding
a way to make chicken salad outof alligator shit.
It's my metaphor I can do whatI want.
I can do what I want.
It's not about thecongressional hearings on UFOs,
where Ryan Graves, david Grushand David Fravor all highly
decorated and highly rankedofficials disclosed that we've
(01:14):
been visited by non-human beingsand have captured their
spacecraft when I say their, Idon't know their pronouns and
we've re-engineered them fordecades trying to figure out
what their power source is.
Did y'all hear that there arenon-human species around us and
(01:35):
hidden in secret labs deep underthe earth where we are studying
them and trying to understandtheir energy source?
I mean, it was probably themost underreported and
underemphasized hot topic of theweek.
Nancy Mace, our attractivelyeffective congresswoman from
Charleston, was criticized forspending too much time talking
(01:59):
about her role in theCongressional Oversight
Committee on this subject,instead of focusing on our
economy, homelessness andunemployment.
You know, the media lost theirminds when they buried the
headlines with something likeCongresswoman, distracted by
little green men.
I mean, holy shit people.
(02:21):
Most every religion from thebeginning of time speaks to man
as the ultimate creation inGod's image.
And there's this gray alienwith big bug eyes sitting in a
containment cell 50 feet underthe Earth's surface, using
mental telepathy to communicatehuman insignificance in the
(02:41):
universe.
I could just imagine Fox News'broadcast.
Thanks, barb.
It seems that our government hasbeen hiding information about
extraterrestrial beings andspacecraft.
Meanwhile, hunter Biden hasbeen abusing his father's role
in the government to amassfortunes and consulting fees,
(03:03):
and the Democrats are sweepingit under the rug.
Hello McFly.
Mcfly, are you in there?
We have been visited bynon-humans for years, centuries,
maybe even pre-homo sapiens,and the issue is about Hunter
Biden.
You know, at least in the movieIndependence Day, all countries
(03:26):
band together to watch WillSmith and Jeff Goldblum smoke a
cigar after the fat lady sangand save the world.
And in the movie Men in Blackwe watch Tommy Lee Jones and
Will Smith save the universefrom intergalactic terrorists
and then watched Will Smith inAfter Earth.
(03:47):
Hey, wait a minute.
It seems like Will Smith is inthe middle of everything alien.
I wonder what Chris Rock has tosay about that.
My point is that the mostriveting news this past week
about a secret agency formed toinvestigate and cover up all
alien contact was just exposed.
(04:09):
And we're all sitting at hometrying to figure out what's the
best time to watch the Barbiemovie and Oppenheimer.
I mean, it's crazy to thinkthat we've just been informed
that we're not alone in theuniverse and someone in very
hush-hush places have known fora long time and have stifled
others for exposing them.
(04:30):
But to most of us, who PeteDavidson is sleeping with this
week holds much higher weightwhat is wrong with us?
You know, in speaking of what'swrong with us, I think that the
(04:57):
word people should be acceptedas a one-word sentence and the
inflection would be as followsPeople.
Let me explain.
Has anyone ever told you theirexperience when somebody wronged
them, insulted them,disrespected them, cut them off
on the road, causing anear-death experience?
(05:19):
I mean, I could go on and onabout human behavior and the
selfish acts of others.
That annoys us and gets underour skin.
Whenever I hear those stories,I always respond with one word
people.
Now, typically when I say thatword, it's often followed by the
(05:41):
word sucks by the other personwho just told the story.
Let me offer two examples.
To make a case in point,there's a new phenomenon
happening when a new movie hitsthe big screen, gen Zers are
making TikToks by filming partsof the movie.
Some of them who are commentingand commentating movie, some of
(06:07):
them who are commenting andcommentating.
It's distracting enough whensomeone near you is texting on
their phone during a movie.
I mean the lit screen on theircell phone can clearly take your
eyes off the big screen in adark theater.
Now imagine they're holdingtheir phones up in the air to
capture the moment and talkingat the same time.
I don't know about you, but forme one of the draws of the big
(06:29):
screen is being totally immersedin the film while possibly
finishing my popcorn rightbefore the opening scene.
I mean it's a total escape fromour everyday lives.
Cell phone distractionsmitigates that overwhelming
feeling of being drawn into theworld that directors and actors
(06:50):
spent years perfecting People.
Or what is it with concert goersthat feel like their personal
experience is more importantthan those around them or, even
worse, more important than theperformers.
I or even worse, more importantthan the performers I've always
thought it was in bad taste forpeople to get up from their
(07:10):
seats in the middle of a song ora scene, particularly if
they're an eye shot of theperformer.
I mean, I think they might bethe same people as those making
TikToks in movie theaters.
And there's this new phenomenonfor concert goers that get
close to the front and throwshit at performers.
(07:32):
Baby Rexha, adele, harry Styles, drake, kelsey Ballerini, ava
Max, bruno Mars, ariana Grande,justin Bieber Okay, maybe he
deserved it All have been hit bystuff that patrons throw at
them Bottles, cans, cell phones,drinks, you name it.
(07:53):
And recently Cardi B got hitwith a drink and returned the
favor by throwing her mic backat the fan's head, perhaps even
hitting the wrong fan when shedid it.
When did that become okay to do?
And I think it might be whenTikTok and Instagram started
(08:15):
compensating for viral events.
Instagram started compensatingfor viral events.
Going viral has become thegolden ticket for those who
can't find a more conventionalor respected way of paying their
(08:36):
bills.
People, I tell you, people.
Okay, so this episode is aboutliving with discomfort.
Most of us, probably all of us,have been put in situations
where we're just not comfortablewith the task we have to do,
the people we're surrounded by,or just about anything that's
outside of normally what we do,anything that's outside of
(09:01):
normally what we do.
Sometimes I find thosesituations motivate me to figure
things out quicker so I couldput myself in a more comfortable
situation.
Learning anything new is allabout that.
That's why so many people quitnew things, because the failure
rate is so high.
Nobody likes to do thingsthey're not good at,
particularly when others arewatching, but sometimes you
(09:22):
can't avoid it.
New jobs, new towns, newacquaintances Some of those
things are thrust upon us and wecould either complain about it
and talk about how nothing's thesame as it used to be, or we
could find some kind of solace,find commonality between people,
find a small niche of peoplewith common interests.
(09:44):
If you're fortunate to go awayto college and you're not going
with your best friends from highschool, that's a perfect
example of going into asituation where you know
virtually nothing.
You know no one and you have tofigure it out or you fail.
This podcast is not about golf,but certainly people taking up
(10:05):
the sport for the first time.
It's so awkward, it's sounnatural and it's so fraught
with failure that people eitherquit or break a lot of clubs or,
even worse, make everybody elsearound them feel as badly as
they feel All right.
So why am I saying all of this?
Back in early July, a friend ofmine that I see at the gym often
(10:28):
told me that on Tuesday nightshe was going downtown Charleston
because there's this salsanight at a jazz club, at the
Forte Jazz Club.
It really wasn't what he saidabout.
It was really about theenthusiasm that he displayed
when he was talking about thisgreat Tuesday night experience.
(10:50):
So let's call him Rico Suave.
When Rico explained the amountof fun he was having and the
profile of the people that werethere, I couldn't help but say
alright, buddy, I'll join youthis one time.
We'll drive downtown and seewhat this whole thing's all
about.
He even asked if I wanted todrive down with him, but it just
(11:14):
so happened.
I had a telephone call I had tomake and it also gave me the
flexibility to have an earlyexit strategy in case things
didn't go as I had hoped.
So I get downtown, I get to theclub, I'm greeted at the door by
the owner, joe, who seems toknow how to run clubs.
He was gracious, welcoming andgave us the lay of the land.
(11:35):
So as I'm walking in the club,you have to go through this
hallway, make some turns, and asyou're getting closer to the
room where the music and thedancers are, it gets louder.
Getting closer to the roomwhere the music and the dancers
are, it gets louder and youcould clearly hear the music.
That was distinguishably Latinmusic.
So now, for some reason, myheart starts racing.
(12:08):
I'm not sure if it was mostlyout of fear or appreciation for
that beat that never stops, andmaybe both are true.
So Rico and I get to thesefront tables right in front of
the dance floor, and herecognizes some people that he's
seen there before and heintroduces me Now.
That certainly broke the iceand somewhat quelled my
discomfort.
(12:29):
After the introductions, ricoimmediately puts his hand out to
this gal and asks her to dance,goes right out on the dance
floor and it looks like afterwatching him start to dance with
her, it looks like they bothhad been there before.
That left me sitting at a tableand watching 20 couples moving,
(12:49):
spinning, gyrating their hipslike Shakira.
(13:12):
But for me I kind of felt like Iwas back in junior high school
at the homecoming dance.
Back then it might have takenme the entire evening to ask a
girl to dance.
This happened to me so manytimes.
I just couldn't get up thecourage and I'd wait, and I'd
wait, and I'd wait and really itwould be the last dance when
(13:34):
they said last call, where Ifinally got up the courage.
And then when I danced, I'mlike why the heck didn't I start
doing this earlier?
You know, I'd sit there injunior high school and watch
these girls dance and spend thenext hour or so at the punch
bowl building up enough courageto ask that one girl that I'd
been stalking.
I know that sounds creepy, butmy lexicon lacks depth and width
(13:58):
.
So I was watching all thesegirls and maybe I'd eyeball one
particular one.
Anyway, back to salsa.
So Rico now comes back from hisfirst or second dance and I am
now on my second margarita.
Don't judge, I needed sociallubricant.
He's like hey, rich, go asksomebody to dance.
(14:20):
That's really all I needed tostart my engine.
That and the two margaritas.
When we walked in, ricointroduced me to this couple of
women.
I'll call them Jenny from theblock and Blondie.
Jenny seemed like a natural andnever left the dance floor.
Now I knew she was not going tobe my first dance experience,
(14:41):
because she seemed to know waytoo many moves.
Now Blondie, on the other hand,was looking at me and it looked
like you know, she seemed likedeer in the headlights.
She was more fearful than I wasPerfect for a first dance for
me.
I figured what's the worst thatcould happen.
She'd say no, I'm no worse forthe wear.
She says yes and we both failtogether.
(15:04):
So she says yes and as we'rewalking up to the dance floor,
she basically tells me hey, takeit easy, I'm a beginner.
It's like what a relief.
What I learned from her is thather discomfort far outweighed
mine and that I could readilyfigure out some of the steps.
(15:24):
That epiphany fueled me for therest of the evening.
Mind you, I didn't know a thingabout leading my dance partner.
Heck, I couldn't lead a troopof soldiers into the mess all
that night, but I had this fireburning inside me to learn Now.
Thankfully, jenny from theblock had the patience to allow
me to fail long enough tochannel my inner Tony Manero,
(15:47):
johnny Castle and Ren McCormick.
The major difference betweensalsa night and the eighth grade
dance was at salsa night, notone woman said no.
When I extended my hand todance Talk about an ego boost.
Talk about an ego boost mydiscomfort quickly changed to
(16:08):
hey, not only can I do this, butI really enjoy this.
You know, I guess dancing islike golf and sex you don't have
to be good to enjoy it, but itcertainly helps.
Sitting in discomfort takes aspecial skill that takes time to
develop.
It's much easier to live smallin your life, find a daily
(16:30):
routine where you can anticipatethe outcome of things as long
as things around you don'tchange, and it's far easier and
less angst in your life when youlive smaller.
You know, my daughter, duringevery job interview, tells the
story about being moved fromChicago to Philadelphia in her
junior year in high school andas a result, she's developed a
(16:54):
skill set for adapting to newthings quickly and that has just
about landed her almost everyjob.
Part of adapting is sitting indiscomfort and then doing
something about it.
Learn something new and getbetter at it, meet new people
and learn how they do things.
As long as you're curious andwant to learn, your discomfort
(17:16):
shouldn't last as long as itmight seem to.
When you first try somethingnew, be curious, not certain,
you'll be better off for it.
And in case you're wondering,I've been to five salsa nights
and still enjoy everything aboutit, despite the fact that my
arsenal of male lead movescouldn't load a pop gun.
(17:37):
But that doesn't stop me.
And despite the fact that I wasrejected by this one sultry
5'11" 30-something-year-old galdance maniac Didn't stop me from
extending my hand to the nextgaggle of willing salsa
participants from all around theglobe Germany, italy, puerto
(17:59):
Rico, russia and Turkey.
Look at me, I'm James freakingBond, probably more like Austin
Powers.
Oh, behave, yeah, yeah, baby.
I think it's time for dancelessons.
Perhaps it's time to channelthat John Clark character To
(18:23):
find a J-Lo-like teacher to helpme take it to the next level.
You've been listening toanother episode from Just Tales.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
(18:45):
Charleston, south Carolina.
Talk to you soon.
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