"YOU DON'T WANT TO DO DANCE MARATHON"

Do you know when there is too much to do, so you end up doing nothing; when there is so much going on that all you can think about is sleeping? College is a time when there is almost too much to do, and too many things to think about. Between classes, jobs, good grades, finances, relationships, papers, friendships, Pancheros….. the list seems never-ending. On top of all this, you will run into people who want you to care about even more things; causes that you are not affected by, things that are happening to people that aren’t you. It’s Thursday, and your friend that always wears orange shirts tries to talk to you about Dance Marathon again. You straight up don't care, so you blow them off by ignoring them. You don’t have time to care about kids with life-threatening illnesses! You have 3 papers and a presentation next week! Maybe you’ll sign up later, or maybe they will forget about it and you’ll be off the hook, you think. You don't want to do Dance Marathon. You don’t want to do anything that requires you to care about something that isn’t you. The thing is, it is hard to care about stuff and it's even harder to care about kids and families you’ve never met. It takes your valuable time and energy. But when we get caught up and care only about the things immediately in front of us, we miss the biggest opportunity that the world gives us: the chance to change a life for the better. Saying no to an opportunity because it’s not relevant to your current life experience is actively denying the potential for growth, learning and improvement in every single day. How will you give something beautiful to the world? To make a difference, you have to invest a part of yourself in something bigger. You have to use your skills, passions and time to make the world a better place. A meaningful life doesn’t just happen, you must actively pursue it with your actions. If you want more meaning, purpose, love, laughter, wonder and adventure in your life, you have to do your part to make the world better, so that in the end you can look back on a life of significance, rather than regret. You have to give something wonderful to others in order to get a wonderful life back.

Once you come to the big event and meet the families who Dance Marathon supports, it will change the way you view your own health and your ability to do something great for others forever. You will look into the eyes of parents that have lost a child, kiddos that have spent months in hospitals, siblings that have missed their parents while they had to stay in the hospital with their sick brother or sister, and you will know that something must be done. No longer will you be able to pretend that the world is a perfect place and that you can focus only on the things happening in your life and be fulfilled. Dance Marathon can be challenging, and it will take at least 12 hours of your time, but if you don’t go because of those kinds of things, you’re saying no to the meaning, purpose, love, laughter, wonder and adventure that being a part of something bigger than yourself brings, and you’re cheating yourself out of a life-changing experience. You can create the meaningful life you want, or you can just get old. Change the world: sign up for Dance Marathon.