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Today's
Meditation:
How often have we heard how nice it would be if life
were to come with an instruction manual? How many
times have we wished that we could have practiced certain
situations before we actually had to go through
them? Well it doesn't, and we can't. And
here's the important part: that's okay. It's
fine.
I can imagine going out into a public place with something
like a violin, that I can't play at all, having to play a
solo. I don't necessarily like what I imagine, but
imagine it I can. And depending on how you look at
it, it isn't necessarily so bad. When we know we
haven't had any practice at something, then doing poorly
isn't a problem, and other people are usually quite
sympathetic to us. They laugh along with us, not at
us, and we all have a bit of fun.
If we look at life as a series of tasks at which we have
to perform perfectly, we're setting ourselves up for some
pretty miserable moments and situations. If, though,
we're able to keep our senses of humor and perspective, we
just may find that playing a violin solo in public can be
a lot of fun, even if we don't know how to play. And
if we remember that life is going to thrust us into
situations that will challenge us without preparing us for
them beforehand, then we can be a bit more gentle on
ourselves when we don't perform perfectly. We can do
our best, but we have to keep in mind that our best at
something we're new at isn't always going to be all that
great.
It's important that we be gentle with ourselves.
There will be mistakes and failures and missed notes and
wrong notes all through our lives, but as long as we do
our best to continue learning, that's all not only
understandable, but expected. You've been called to
play a solo without any preparation at all except that
which you get as you go along, so be proud of yourself for
all that you've learned and accomplished, and for the fact that the
music still goes on.
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