When I was twelve, I got the rare opportunity to take some piano lessons. I took about a year and a half of weekly lessons before my teacher became interested in me as a girl and not as a student.
So... that was the end of the piano lessons. :(
I did learn enough about the piano to make me able to enjoy playing it, even though I wasn't very good at it. But one of the things that taking music / piano lessons taught me was that everyone sucks at something the first time around and that it is important to practice any new skill, any new application of that skill. Practice makes perfect.
Well. Sort of. Mistakes can still happen but they usually aren't those glaring mistakes made by rank beginners.
In the last three years, I have been learning a new skill - how to live life one day at a time and let people (including myself) be who they are.
At first I made a lot of mistakes. Just like when practicing the piano. It sure didn't sound like it should have - there were a lot of sour notes. Sometimes I made the same mistake over and over again until I got it right. When I learned to do the most difficult things first, even if I had to do them in slow motion to get them right, I started making fewer errors. And the strangest thing about practicing (whether piano, guitar, flute or voice) is this: I can get something polished up so I know it and perform flawlessly; I am confident with it. But if it's been a while since I have practiced even something I know well - the next time it can be full of hesitations, I forget what chord to use, I hit a wrong note, or I get the timing off. It's the same thing with living one day at a time and letting go of the need to control and fix everyone. I forget and slip back into those same errors. Or I hesitate - and a moment is lost.
But it's not the end of the world. I've learned to admit my foul-ups, cut myself a break, accept the forgiveness God offers, and move on.
The secret is to practice and KEEP practicing. And my goal isn't perfection anymore, even though sometimes (when God's in charge and not me) it happens - and I am in awe whenever it does. One of the sayings I have come to take as one motto of many in the last three year is: 'progress, not perfection.' I believe there's a lot of wisdom in that. It sure reduces my stress and makes things easier for everyone else in my life too.
And there are endless opportunities presented to me to practice what I've learned. I think I hear another one calling me even now.
:D
So... that was the end of the piano lessons. :(
I did learn enough about the piano to make me able to enjoy playing it, even though I wasn't very good at it. But one of the things that taking music / piano lessons taught me was that everyone sucks at something the first time around and that it is important to practice any new skill, any new application of that skill. Practice makes perfect.
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| Found this neat photo through Google Images at http://www.pianolessons.net/lessons/ how-to-practice-piano.html |
In the last three years, I have been learning a new skill - how to live life one day at a time and let people (including myself) be who they are.
At first I made a lot of mistakes. Just like when practicing the piano. It sure didn't sound like it should have - there were a lot of sour notes. Sometimes I made the same mistake over and over again until I got it right. When I learned to do the most difficult things first, even if I had to do them in slow motion to get them right, I started making fewer errors. And the strangest thing about practicing (whether piano, guitar, flute or voice) is this: I can get something polished up so I know it and perform flawlessly; I am confident with it. But if it's been a while since I have practiced even something I know well - the next time it can be full of hesitations, I forget what chord to use, I hit a wrong note, or I get the timing off. It's the same thing with living one day at a time and letting go of the need to control and fix everyone. I forget and slip back into those same errors. Or I hesitate - and a moment is lost.
But it's not the end of the world. I've learned to admit my foul-ups, cut myself a break, accept the forgiveness God offers, and move on.
The secret is to practice and KEEP practicing. And my goal isn't perfection anymore, even though sometimes (when God's in charge and not me) it happens - and I am in awe whenever it does. One of the sayings I have come to take as one motto of many in the last three year is: 'progress, not perfection.' I believe there's a lot of wisdom in that. It sure reduces my stress and makes things easier for everyone else in my life too.
And there are endless opportunities presented to me to practice what I've learned. I think I hear another one calling me even now.
:D
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