Although I started playing the guitar at age 12, I’ve never been as good as I want to be. For better or worse, I am a natural born practicer. I often spend so much time practicing the guitar I forget to spend time simply playing the thing. It’s as if some part of me feels I still have to “earn the right” to fully enjoy the instrument.
Does practice make perfect? Maybe. But the most perfect guitar player isn’t necessarily the happiest guitar player.
Improvement versus Acceptance
You can spend so much time and energy saving money that you forget to enjoy spending it. You can focus so much on improving your home you neglect to simply sit on the couch and live in it. You can even work so hard on your relationships that you forget to genuinely relate. Being better is a worthwhile endeavor – but so is simply being.
When it comes to the business of living your life, the good news is you’ve already got the job. Wherever you are in your life, and however you got there, you don’t always have to be improving yourself for some imaginary promotion. Being yourself is enough. It has to be, because who else are you going to be?
