There were many hobby classes in school: music, dancing, puppetry, riding and many more. All the students had joined to learn something. Lisa wanted to learn dance, so she joined the classes.
Miss Nelson was very graceful and taught the students the steps of each dance. Then she would have Miss Gertrude play the piano while she made them repeat the steps they had learnt.
All the students followed her carefully, so did Lisa. But Lisa stepped on other people’s toes whenever she moved. When she stretched her arm out, she punched somebody in the face. Anyone dancing next to her was likely to trip and fall flat on the floor! For a week Miss Nelson tried to make a dancer of Lisa. But Lisa in the dance class was a disaster.
The next day when Lisa came for the dance class, Miss Nelson said, “Lisa, would you please meet me after the class is over?”
After the class, Lisa waited for the others to file out. Miss Nelson asked her why she wished to learn dancing.
“It’s so graceful, Miss Nelson,” said Lisa, “I am so clumsy! I thought if I learnt to dance I’d become graceful.”
“You know, Lisa, dancing is not the only thing that requires grace. There are several other activities which require both strength and grace,” explained Miss Nelson.
“Like what?” asked Lisa in surprise.
“In our school, there are classes for riding and swimming. Have you tried either of them?”
Lisa had not so far thought of this. Gently, Miss Nelson told her that while dancing was not her strong point, she should try one of the other two sports.
Lisa went to the riding school and watched some of her friends learn to ride. She stood near a horse, but it seemed so powerful and large, that she got scared. She didn’t think she would be able to become a rider.
Then she went to the swimming pool. She was worried. “What will I do if I am unable to swim?” thought Lisa.
Feeling a little frightened, she dipped her feet into the water. It felt cool and silky. She slid into the water. The coach had come up to her end of the pool. He showed her the movements and told her to lie on her back and get used to the water.
Lisa suddenly found she was enjoying herself. She tried the front stroke as the coach instructed. In a few minutes, she was actually swimming! It was unbelievable! She went on to become the school champion, strong and graceful!
