One of my adult sons was playing the piano one day, practicing a performance. I thought of our history together. We had started lessons when I turned forty and he was eight. We would take our lesson back to back at our piano teachers house. Sometimes if he was busy I would take both lessons or if I were busy he would take both. We would bargain with the other if we wanted “out” because we had not practiced.
We mostly tried to stay motivated though. He never wanted to quit piano but sometimes he needed extra help to play everyday. And so for years we would have different kinds of home made charts on the refrigerator to hold the stickers that he chose to mark each time he practiced. A full chart would mean a reward of his choice- a new Beany Baby or as he got older a trip to Blockbuster Video to rent the latest video game. So back to that one day he was playing as an adult. A thought really struck me. I said to adult son: “Little you” gave “adult you” such a wonderful gift with all that practicing. You can play anything on that piano. You are reaping the rewards now, for all the time “little you” spent hard at work. Think back about the time you spent. You really have to appreciate “little you.” I think it pleased us both to remember the little boy perched on the piano bench, playing. We can do that sort of thing our whole lives. It is really pretty amazing. We can eat our vegetables today to pave a healthier tomorrow. We can go on a walk today to keep our joints working. We can read a book today. Sign up for a class today. We can start piano lessons at eight or forty or seventy-eight. I once took a yoga class with a man named John who was very flexible. He told me one day he was seventy-eight years old. “And the funniest thing is, I never did any yoga until three years ago!” What a gift he had given himself 3 years before. He did as much as he could with the ability that he had when he started and he ended up surprising himself. “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” –Karen Lamb You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” –Wayne Gretzky So…. Think about it. Even if “little you” is pretty big, what can “little you” start to do? ~Melissa L Regan
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