“When you get older, it’s not about what you did that you regret, it’s what you didn’t do.” Grace Slick
One of the things I do when I speak about how to overcome our fears is encourage people to do things that scare them. We live in the most comfortable nation in the world and we love our comfort. Anything that makes us uncomfortable we avoid like a way too small pair of shoes.
As a boy I was required by my parents to take piano lessons. I didn’t want to take piano lessons. They made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t good at it and was too young to understand that you can get better at things through practice. I knew that to be true in sports but that was something I loved so it never seemed like practice.
Because my dad was a pastor we lived in a parsonage, a five second walk from the back door of our house to the side door of the church. We didn’t have a piano in our home so my lessons and my practice took place on one of the many pianos in the church.
In spite of my protests, I always showed up for my lessons on time because my mom made sure that happened. When it came to practices, however, I wasn’t as efficient as I needed to be.
On the four weekdays that I didn’t have lessons I was to go over to the church after school to practice for half an hour. Thankfully, I got the weekends off. Those practices rarely happened. I would go into the church through the side door by our house and simply walk all the way through the church, drop my piano books on a chair, and go out the door on the other side of the building. It wasn’t hard for a young boy to wander about and explore for a while so that’s what I did. After what I thought was about half an hour I would come back through that door pick up my piano books and come home.
Needless to say, my piano skills did not improve. My piano teacher questioned, with my mom present, my practice habits. My schemes all came to light. Mom and dad realized that forcing me to continue to take lessons was a waste of money so they came to a merciful end. I was grateful!
Mom didn’t let the opportunity pass without imparting some motherly wisdom, which I’m sure many of you have heard as well. “Someday, you’ll regret you didn’t keep up with your lessons.” I don’t remember exactly what I said to her but I’m sure it went something like this, “Nah, I don’t think that will ever happen!” Once again, mom was proven to be right. I should have listened to her more!
It took a while but mom’s words have come true. My appreciation for music has grown a lot through the years. I regret I didn’t stick with my lessons and could now enjoy sitting down and playing just for the sheer joy of it.
So, today, I start something scary. A friend has loaned me a keyboard. My wife got me piano lessons for my birthday. It’s time to face my fears.
We all have a tendency to gravitate towards things we do well and pick up quickly. I’m afraid I’m not going to do well to start and that I won’t pick it up quickly. I’m afraid I’m going to make mistakes. I’m afraid because I don’t know how to read music. I’m afraid I’m just too old to try and pick this up now. I’m afraid if I start I’ll quit again. If I don’t start then I won’t quit. I’m afraid someone will want to hear me. And the list goes on.
As I was scrolling through Facebook the other day someone posted this article on the benefits for your brain of playing a musical instrument. As a Christian, I believe God speaks to us in a variety of ways. I believe He puts people and things in our paths that nudge us in a direction He wants us to go. Likely, He is telling me my brain needs some help, which I’m sure those close to me would agree! I found the timing of this article to be very interesting.
Fortunately, this is a regret I still have time to do something about.
Do you have the courage to do something that scares you this week? Do you have regrets in life that you still have time to do something about? Stop waiting for the right time or for your ducks to be all lined up.
I encourage and challenge you to have the courage to take uncomfortable action today! You won’t regret it!
Do you need a speaker for an upcoming event? I’d love to be that guy. You can reach me at dave@cultivatecourage.com or 952-200-7499.
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