Practice Makes…

Progress

Most pursuits in life are rarely accomplished upon first try. Often, its a slow, sometimes arduous struggle uphill to bring our dreams to life. Yet, we insatiably yearn for the mountaintops, the moments when all our hard work has come to fruition. But this orientation, namely to outcomes and destinations, disorients us from the truth of the matter - anything worth creating in this life takes practice. So let us learn to approach life as a practice. In essence, we must practice practicing. If we see it this way, we begin to respect and appreciate the process and the progress we make along the way.

Presense

By nature, we also become more present. Instead of that fixation on the end goal. We see the beauty in tending to our garden day by day. The trust required in early stages, the confusion in setbacks, and the joy in the moments when our work begins to pay off. We can welcome all of it as enough. Truly, the journey becomes an end in of itself. Of course we’ll feel the highs of the mountaintop, but it won’t come at the expense of the month, years, etc it took to get there.

Peace

The old adage adjusted here is “practice makes perfect”. Well guess what, theres no such fucking thing as perfection! Never was. Never will be. Chasing it is like chasing Puff the Magic Dragon, leaving us ever insatiable. With a love for practice, we find peace, relaxing the expectation that we must be an all-star over night and respecting the value of learning through trying, doing, failing and repetition. Decoupling our inherent worth from our abilities and outcomes, approaching new skills and creative processes with a beginners mind affords us a spaciousness that makes the whole journey that much more pleasant.

Play

Play and practice are two sides of the same coin. As children, what do we do? We play! Constantly. And guess what happens as we stumble and fall, scream and ball, get back up, smile and shit our pants? We learn! We are literally practicing and learning how to live life, walk, connect, get our needs met, etc. Theres an organic lightness in the childlike relationship to exploring this life. We can lose sight of this part of our true nature as we grow, but its always within us and welcoming us to approach our practices with a playful nature.

Pleasure

Practice isn’t alway easy. There is a pain associated with the monotony of the failure inherent in repetition. And where there is pain, there is pleasure. And as we integrate the sometimes struggle of our journey, we can begin to appreciate the satisfaction of both big and little triumphs. Those moment where your effort has shown to pay off. A joy within confirming that you are on the right path. A celebratory impulse worth basking in. There are many beautiful viewpoints, gorgeous trees, flowers to smell, and nature in all its glory along the path to the top. Stop and take them in. Find joy in all of it.