Dancing With the Stars is Setting a Shining Example

That's right. The popular TV show "Dancing With the stars" is indeed setting a shining example, and I am not referring to the bling of the costumes or the mirror ball trophy.

It's because this show has proven that the ability to succeed, to strive and to achieve your goals has nothing to do with race, colour, ethnic background, physical shortcomings or sexual orientation. It shows that a goal does not always involve winning. It's an example to everyone that there is more to a person than what is on the outside.

Just think about it. DWTS has featured a wide assortment of folks whose only common denominator is that, for some reason, they have become famous for doing something. The show has featured actors, singers, Olympic athletes, comedians, models, politicians, entrepreneurs, television personalities and advocates for various causes. There was even a bull rider, a lawyer, a female boxer, a chef, a magician, a snowboarder, an astronaut and a race car driver. Ages have ranged from 16 to 70-something.

Not many shows can claim to have featured people who were very tall or short, fat people, skinny people, straight, gay and transgendered people, plus those who are American, Canadian, British, European, South American, Asian and Australian. The show has included people with backgrounds that are Japanese, Chinese, African, Hawaiian, Caucasian and probably a few more I can't recall, plus people with mixed racial heritage. One competitor was deaf, one had an artificial leg, some were cancer survivors, at least one was a victim of childhood abuse and one was disfigured. Some had metal plates and screws holding bones together from injuries suffered long before they began to dance, but none of them let that stop them from trying.

Does it matter?

Yes, but not for the reasons one might think. It matters because the audience found out who these competitors really were and learned to see them as real people. We saw J.R. Martinez as the person he is inside, not just the veteran with the burned face. We learned that a person can be beautiful regardless of physical appearance. We found out that a deaf person can dance well, that a victim of abuse can overcome a terrible start to life and become successful, and that dreams can come true, as they did for Jane Seymour, robbed of a ballet career by an injury while in her teens. We discovered that people can step outside their comfort zone and discover more about themselves than they ever dreamed possible. Who would have thought that a football player or a WWE wrestler could have a dancer hidden inside him?

I guess the bottom line is that DWTS celebrates both our differences and our similarities.  It shows that, underneath, people share many of the same joys and sorrows, fears and courage, regardless of background or social standing. And it has shown us that, yes, Chaz Bono is a different kind of man, and Carson is outrageously gay, and J.R.'s face looks different, and that none of that really matters.

So kudos to Dancing With the Stars. You've entertained us, but you've also taught us to took past the outside of a person and to take on challenges without letting a fear of failure stop us from trying.