Hmmm . . . I am a simple man. Please do not confuse that as some of my friends do and then respond when I say that: “You mean you are a simpleton?” Be kind! Be kind. What I mean is that when I am trying to learn something, trying to gain an intellectual understanding of something, I like to break it down into smaller bits that are easily grasped by my mind. For example, remember I said last time we visited that I am a guitarist?
When I am learning a new piece of music, I quite often come to a passage that I just cannot play and a train wreck of jumbled notes and dropped cadences wreaks havoc on the aural countryside. Whereupon, I pick up fingers, dust them off and analyze the situation. I usually start with the note before the wreck, then the next, and the next, one at a time slowly. I break the passage down into bits and pieces and master each one separately. Then I combine them and master the passage. During this phase, I do not care how long it takes, I just remain calm, relaxed and let it happen. In more than one instance, one passage has kept me from playing a piece well for months. I just keep working on that passage, and eventually, it becomes playable, then easy to play. Once it is learned and built into my fingers I can again say I am a simple man and playing the guitar is easy. I would like to think that this applies to many other problems in life.
Now. From our last visit, I came up with 2 assumptions:
- Thoughts are things and have power.
- Intellectual knowledge is simply a starting point and not enough for success at any endeavor.
However, do not misunderstand, though it is a starting point, intellectual knowledge, and let’s add realization, is extremely important. For as in my guitar playing example, the knowledge I possessed on how to master the passage was essential to the process, but was not the actual process. The process was, through repetition, building the ability to play that passage into my being. You guessed it! We now have another assumption, and with your permission I would like to add: for intellectual knowledge or realization to be truly valuable or usable, it must be built into the very substance of your being, it must become a part of the self. So now we have three:
- Thoughts are things and have power.
- Intellectual knowledge is simply a starting point and not enough for success at any endeavor.
- For intellectual knowledge or realization to be truly valuable or usable, it must be built into the very substance of your being.
All the very best to you this day!
Just A Thought, Continued
When I am learning a new piece of music, I quite often come to a passage that I just cannot play and a train wreck of jumbled notes and dropped cadences wreaks havoc on the aural countryside. Whereupon, I pick up fingers, dust them off and analyze the situation. I usually start with the note before the wreck, then the next, and the next, one at a time slowly. I break the passage down into bits and pieces and master each one separately. Then I combine them and master the passage. During this phase, I do not care how long it takes, I just remain calm, relaxed and let it happen. In more than one instance, one passage has kept me from playing a piece well for months. I just keep working on that passage, and eventually, it becomes playable, then easy to play. Once it is learned and built into my fingers I can again say I am a simple man and playing the guitar is easy. I would like to think that this applies to many other problems in life.
Now. From our last visit, I came up with 2 assumptions:
However, do not misunderstand, though it is a starting point, intellectual knowledge, and let’s add realization, is extremely important. For as in my guitar playing example, the knowledge I possessed on how to master the passage was essential to the process, but was not the actual process. The process was, through repetition, building the ability to play that passage into my being. You guessed it! We now have another assumption, and with your permission I would like to add: for intellectual knowledge or realization to be truly valuable or usable, it must be built into the very substance of your being, it must become a part of the self. So now we have three:
All the very best to you this day!