Running

As is kid I loved to run. I used to run up and down our property all summer long. When I started high school I joined track. I loved to run and feel the wind in my face.

I do not "run" with my legs any onger. I "run" with my whole mind and body. I have to hurry and get what I am doing done so I can start the next something. It is not enough to do only one thing at a time now. If I am watching TV, I have to read a book or do a crossword puzzle at the same time.
The first time I noticed this was when I was playing the guitar.

My wife got me a bass guitar for Christmas a couple of years ago. A friend found a site on the internet that will help you to learn how to play. I was getting frustrated with the site. I was four or five lessons in to the program and my playing wasn't getting any better. I started thinking I will never be able to play. I just don't have the skill. Some people can play music and some can't. I am a can't.

I took a step back and looked at what I was doing. I was running through the lessons. I would look at the lesson. I would say "I know where all those notes are and I see what order to play them". Then I would move on because I had finished the lesson. Here was the best lesson I had learned on the guitar: walk don't run. I wasn't "doing". I was just reading. I was just skimming through the information. I was not really learning. I just wanted to pick up enough information and not get bogged down with it and then move on to the next thing.

That wasn't working for me. I haven't found anyone who has had success with this approach. I went back to lesson #1 and did the lesson. Then I went back and did it again. I worked on that lesson for a couple of hours. Now I could kind of do what it said. I was 100% better. That still isn't much, but I am better at playing than I ever would have been if I kept doing lessons the old way.

The bottom line is we can get so caught up in the digital society we stop doing. Walk don't run. Unplug for a day and see where it leads you. I love all of my gadgets. I wouldn't want to have to live with out them. I just need to remember to slow down.