Lauren B., Northmont Middle School
Mental Blocks Are No Joke
Having a mental block is the worst thing I could ever imagine, especially when I’m in dance. It’s like climbing up a hill, but then twisting an ankle and falling back down to the bottom. By far, it was the hardest thing I’ve been through ever, for a sport at least. To be honest, it’s in my head, but I’m slowly getting out of it. I have my tumbling skills back though.
I have always been a fast learner, and I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. While I tumble, people are impressed, and I’ve taken pride in it. During competitions, strangers always tell me about how well our groups do. That’s when I thought to myself, this is really my thing. I enjoy it and I’m never going to quit. That was very true until my mental block hit me. That’s when the hill I was climbing up became a slope and I slid to the bottom. My brain and my body stopped working together, and nothing was going the way it used to. It’s like the world got flipped on its head, except the world was my brain.
One by one, I lost my tumbling tricks. It was to the point where I couldn’t manage to do a back handspring, and if you know me, that’s crazy. The person I was before wasn’t the same person I was now. I didn’t want to dance anymore. I felt like a disappointment. I knew that everyone was there, but I shut myself out from them and became self centered and “didn’t need anyone’s help,” even though deep down I did.
I was lying to myself, and needed to get myself together. So, day by day, I worked. Surprisingly, I started to get myself together. The hill was slowly becoming easier to climb and progress was made. I was defeating the monster that was eating away at what I knew as me. The work to get these tricks back was the hardest I’d ever worked. Everyday, I went outside and there was trial and error. After a long time, I got my tricks back slowly. Hope sparked in me and I was motivated. I wasn’t going to be the person to drag my team down. My attitude was affecting everyone, and that wasn’t going to happen.
Recital had finally come around, and I had my tricks back. I didn’t have confidence at first, but as I went on I eventually found the old me. Then, nationals came around. This is the biggest competition of the year, and I had to give it my all. So, I got out on stage and defeated that monster. The mental block was no more. Everything clicked. The hill that took me months to climb had finally been conquered, and I felt happier than I had in so long. I learned that giving up isn’t an option. No matter how hard it is, or how long it takes, I’m not going to give up.
