By Francisco De La Calleja

    Have you ever heard yourself say “I hate feeling frustrated”? And honestly, who doesn’t? As we journey through the experience of dancing, all of us, students, performers, choreographers, competitors, judges, teachers and even teacher trainers risk feeling frustration.

      Sooner or later you will feel the burn of frustration at the difficulties encountered on the road to your dreams. But here is the catch: Frustration is a good thing. It can develop into positive energy if you understand it. And, no matter if you are at beginner or professional level, you've better learn what it is all about. Because frustration can become full-blown hardship if you misunderstand it. And hardship will zap the joy out of learning, improving and enjoying your dancing.

    First you must realize that frustration is an opportunity to get to know the real you, not the one you told yourself to expect. If you are honest with yourself you will see who you truly are right at the moment when reality shakes down the illusion you had about who you are, what you are doing and what you are accomplishing.

    Now there is nothing wrong with visualizing and believing in a better you. That is what dreams, aspirations and goals are. You will never improve or achieve anything without those. But the friction of your dreams coming into contact with the world’s reality produces those tiny sparks that we call frustration. These little sparks are as natural as the weather. Frustration is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of change.

    Frustration is also realizing that your initial goals were not realistic. And this is a good thing. If you never feel the weight of frustration is because you chose to remain pessimistic, to play it safe and to risk little. Only optimists are in danger of meeting frustration, but then again, only an optimist can see a better self in spite of his obvious shortcomings. In other words, if you do not feel frustration you are not reaching far enough. So, frustration is a sign of ambition.

    Frustration is a moment to tell yourself to work smart, not hard. Do not fall into the trap of believing that frustration and hardship will give more value to your eventual accomplishments. Every dream or goal will demand of you two things to be fulfilled: desire and knowledge. The desire you bring into this enterprise will drive and determine the intensity of your effort. But if you do not have the knowledge to focus your efforts in the most efficient way you are going to create a vicious circle of frustration, self-doubt, and increased effort gone to waste. This is why…

     Frustration is also life's way of telling you that you need help. Every time you face frustration is a good reminder that you cannot accomplish everything you want completely on your own. You may have a thermonuclear reactor level of desire, but you still need better information about how to use the energy it produces. You need a teacher, a mentor, someone who has been in your shoes and has the experience and knowledge to help you direct your energy in the right direction at the most opportune moment. So, frustration is the gateway to empowerment.

     Lastly, frustration is an opportunity to re-evaluate your objectives and find a way to properly focus on them. Don’t give up on your lofty goals, your high aspirations and your big dreams. Simply learn how to break them down into more immediately achievable goals. This will not only reduce the intensity of the friction of dream against reality but it will motivate you since every partial objective accomplished will get you closer to the bigger goal. Also, seeing the stepping stones that lead to your objective will allow you to realize how many other different and maybe even more interesting goals come into your reach as you progress.

     All this is true not just when it comes to learning how to dance, how to perform, or even how to teach, but in every sphere of your life: professional, artistical, emotional, social and even spiritual. Frustration is not an unpleasant emotion. It is simply part of the road signage of your personal journey.