Always Practicing

I've been thinking a lot about practicing the basics lately.  It can be difficult to remind myself that even though I've been working towards something for a long time, I'm still just starting out.  I'm still just learning, and I still need to practice the basics.  Every day.  And just as I was pondering this reality, I stumbled on a short article on a similar topic.  Here is a quick excerpt:

You would presume someone crazy if, after stumbling over a crack in the sidewalk, they burst into tears, sobbing, “I’m such a horrible walker! I should just quit!” Yet we exhibit this type of behavior all the time, especially when we begin learning something new...

It’s a lot more realistic to say that I practice walking. I’ll never do it perfectly, right? So I’m always just practicing it. And since there’s nothing (absolutely nothing!) I’ll ever do perfectly 100% of the time that means everything I do is just practice.

I practice being nice to people. I practice being on time for work. I practice folding the laundry as soon as the dryer buzzes. I practice saving money. All these things are things I’m not perfect at doing — in fact some of them I’m quite bad at. However, because I continue to practice, I get better at them over time. And when I remember that everything is just practice the result is that I don’t view myself as a failure when the things I do don’t get me the results I hoped they would. And because I haven’t failed it’s easier to pick myself up, dust myself off, and practice some more.

Read the original here: Practice