piano and life lessons...

So, it's friday: cleaning day.

AGGGHHHHH!!!!!

lately, i have been feeling SO overwhelmed with life! i think my 'to do' list is just a bit too long, and full of things that simply dont need to be there.

but, as i have been cleaning today, i have been thinking about the life lessons i try to weave into the WAY TOO MANY piano lessons i teach. one such philosophy comes as they try to learn a very hard song. sometimes, just looking at the song is overwhelming. it seems to go on forever; full of challenging lines and intimidating measures. how do we tackle something like this? it seems impossible! it isnt. we just have to conquer the small things. we notice the patterns that develop that can make our practice time more efficient. we go measure by measure... we can solve little problems as they arise. soon, faster than we realize, the whole song has been mastered.

as it is with life. too often, i am overwhelmed with a long 'to do' list. i see all that needs to be done, and i am tempted to put it all away and give up. if, however, i spent just a few minutes and solve little problems (or do 1 thing at a time), magically, the whole BIG problem gets done!

Joe is so good at that. when there is a problem to solve or a challenge in front of him - he just has that ability to immediately see all the little issues he will be faced with - and he says "this is what needs to be done, this is how it will be fixed, these are the challenges and this is how to overcome them, ok lets go" - seriously, something that would take me 3 days and many hours of frustration takes him like 2 hours with no stress - just boom, boom, boom- done. i love that about him!

so, rather than just give up today, and spend the whole day goofing off on the internet, i will just do what i can... 1 thing at a time... ok i have motivated myself... ok, for reals now, i will get off this chair and put my laundry away!... ok now... ;)...