Piano Analogy

Life is like playing the piano. 

You start out only playing on the black keys, then you try to master the white ones and that's where all the trouble begins.  You go to piano practice, then you practice it at home.  Hours upon hours you struggle with those little notes that like to hang out around bars and just when you start to think you know what you're doing your teacher gives you an even harder piece to play.

Blegh.

Scales up, scales down, left hand with the right hand, and then they throw sharps and flats at you!  You learn to hate those little black keys that you started out on.  They throw everything off!  What's the point of practicing the piano anyways!  The songs are a burden and sitting on the piano bench for long leaves you with a sore tush.

:P

Hence why not many people make it past more than a year or two of piano practice.  It's hard to see the end goal of "Moonlight Sonata" when you're stuck on "Mary Had a Little Lamb".  Yet if you can see that end goal, if you keep practicing and don't let the sour notes get you down, you learn how to play the piano note by note until it becomes something beautiful.

I remember practicing the piano.  All my attention would be on this one song and I just couldn't get it right.  I kept playing the wrong notes, my fingers wouldn't stretch far enough, and I was just frustrated with myself that I couldn't play the piece perfectly.  So I'd get off the bench and find myself a little corner and book to sulk in.

My mom would inquire as to my blackened mood, and I'd tell her of how I didn't want to practice the piano because I couldn't get it right.  That's when she'd gently encourage me that I could do it, and that if I just practiced one note at a time, one hand at a time, then eventually I would get it right.  I'd express my displeasure at making mistakes, after all she was the one who had to listen to me mess up.  I wanted to do it right so then it'd be pleasing for her to listen to.

With the amount of love that only a mother can have, she'd tell me of how she didn't care about the mistakes.  She was happy at my progress.  She was grateful that I was doing better and better with each try.  She believed in me and my growing ability that I could do it.  My mother would then help me put down the book, she'd chase away the negative shadows that clustered my mind, and she'd guide me back to the piano bench so I could begin again.

Do you know what happened then?  I still messed up.  But I could keep going and practicing until I did get that song right.  Because of her support, I could then pick up new pieces and not feel terrible at all the mistakes.  I could keep going and progressing, knowing that my mother was supporting me.  And while I didn't always like sitting at a piano struggling with a single song for an hour, I learned to like practicing and improving until I got it right.

This parallels our lives quite well.  In the beginning of life we can't do much, it takes time to learn how to walk and talk.  We start with the basics and move on until we can do more and become more.  Every day we practice living and growing.  We make mistakes.  Sometimes they're little ones, sometimes they're big piano crashes where we pound too hard on one note and break a string.  Luckily it's never the end of the world.

There have been many times in my life when I've been frustrated with the mistakes I've made.  I get tired of saying the wrong things, making the wrong choice, or just not doing all that I could.  I've gotten tired of trying.  But a loving, kind, gentle Father in Heaven always stepped in and taught me a better way.  To keep trying.  To keep practicing. 

Just like my mother delighted in my growth and practice and didn't mind the mistakes, God delights in our growth.  He is so proud of us for our efforts to improve.  He has provided a way for us to be redeemed from our mistakes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He wants us to succeed, for he sees all we can be.  We are his children, and we have the potential to become like him.  When we focus on the end goal of becoming Christ-like, then we can find the patience to work through our little mistakes.

Find joy in practicing the piano!  Find the joy in practicing life!  There will be mistakes, but that's okay.  You're expected to have a few when you're learning something new.  Rejoice with your Father in Heaven in the wonderful fact that you are progressing and growing!  If you can find that joy in the little things - good and bad - then you will find greater progression in your life as well.