I don't know about you, but one of the things the Midlife transition has taught me is the importance of practice.
Let me tell you a story.
To this day, I can still hear my mother calling me in from playing with my friends to practice the piano.
Like me, you may have many things in life to which you are still answering, "But mom, do I have to?" The problem that many of us have is that we view practice as a VERB.
we're doing it as a means to an end - to learn a skill, to get ahead, to achieve a goal or to make money.
We are seeing it as something that is separate from the rest of our lives.
We need to "get" that PRACTICE is a NOUN..
From my practice of Yoga, I have come to understand the importance of what the Masters call Staying on the Mat.
The path of MASTERY honors the journey and focuses on the practice itself - not to gain something, but for its own sake.
Practice, in this sense becomes an integral part of our lives, not a means to an end, but as an end in and of itself.
Winners don't devote themselves to a skill to get better -Unlike my "do I HAVE to", they LOVE to practice - and because of this - they do get better..
& it seems that the better they get - the more they love performing - the basics - over and over.
I remember telling dear Mr.
Lerner, my piano teacher, when he asked me to practice scales, "but we've done that already.
" I never did master the piano - because I didn't then understand how to have the mind and heart of a beginner.
George Leonard, a renowned Aikido Master and author of a wonderful book entitled MASTERY has said, The essence of BOREDOM is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty.
(repeat) True satisfaction lies in repetition.
" - Staying on the Mat I stopped at the scales.
I finally learned that a symphony gets its richness from the subtle variations on familiar themes.
True satisfaction does lie in repetition.
As a reminder, I used to practice Yoga in front of the untuned piano in my living room.
How many of us are dabblers who begin a new job, or a sport, or diet or relationship - and when we are no longer seeing quick successes, get bored and quit? Those on the mat - the path of mastery actually take delight in the plateaus.
(I'm still working on this one!)
Let me tell you a story.
To this day, I can still hear my mother calling me in from playing with my friends to practice the piano.
Like me, you may have many things in life to which you are still answering, "But mom, do I have to?" The problem that many of us have is that we view practice as a VERB.
we're doing it as a means to an end - to learn a skill, to get ahead, to achieve a goal or to make money.
We are seeing it as something that is separate from the rest of our lives.
We need to "get" that PRACTICE is a NOUN..
From my practice of Yoga, I have come to understand the importance of what the Masters call Staying on the Mat.
The path of MASTERY honors the journey and focuses on the practice itself - not to gain something, but for its own sake.
Practice, in this sense becomes an integral part of our lives, not a means to an end, but as an end in and of itself.
Winners don't devote themselves to a skill to get better -Unlike my "do I HAVE to", they LOVE to practice - and because of this - they do get better..
& it seems that the better they get - the more they love performing - the basics - over and over.
I remember telling dear Mr.
Lerner, my piano teacher, when he asked me to practice scales, "but we've done that already.
" I never did master the piano - because I didn't then understand how to have the mind and heart of a beginner.
George Leonard, a renowned Aikido Master and author of a wonderful book entitled MASTERY has said, The essence of BOREDOM is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty.
(repeat) True satisfaction lies in repetition.
" - Staying on the Mat I stopped at the scales.
I finally learned that a symphony gets its richness from the subtle variations on familiar themes.
True satisfaction does lie in repetition.
As a reminder, I used to practice Yoga in front of the untuned piano in my living room.
How many of us are dabblers who begin a new job, or a sport, or diet or relationship - and when we are no longer seeing quick successes, get bored and quit? Those on the mat - the path of mastery actually take delight in the plateaus.
(I'm still working on this one!)