Sitting around here has got me thinking about life in general. One evening while chatting with Val I came to realize a few more life lessons… may you all learn something from my list. (new ones are italicized)
Marc’s Life Lessons:
1. There’s always an excuse NOT to do something.
2. You can’t live for other people.
3. Don’t think; just do (Most of the time).
4. Never underestimate the power of a vacation (even if it only lasts one minute).
5. You can do ANYTHING… you just need to start doing SOMETHING.
6. The more you do, the more you can do. (And vice versa.)
7. Compliment your partner every day.
1 and 5 are basically part of the same idea, yes? (And 6, sort of)
That was actually what drew me to the Leonard Falcone quote in the first place, that I put up on my office: “The chances of playing the right notes are much improved if you play SOMETHING.” If you accept playing an instrument as an analogy for life (which, it’s not a bad analogy, IMHO), then it encapsulates the ideas behind 1, 3, 5, and 6, I think…
As for 2 — that’s a hard one for people to learn, isn’t it? I sure as hell didn’t have that one learned when I left Addison. I think I’ve gotten better now, but it’s taken years.
4 is a hard one to let myself admit to — I always feel guilty about taking vacations and having down-time. (And, really, is that reconcilable with 1, 3, 5, and 6?)
And 7 — well, of course. Actually, finding specific things to compliment people about in general is a good practice (without going overboard). If done right, it shows people you care.
Now that I look at it, 1 and 5 are essentially the same thing. 6 is different only because I’m actually thinking of amounts. That number 6 actually started from watching people driving carts around walmart. Those people started as normal walking people, then got slower and less able to walk. The less they walked, the less they could walk.
I like the instrument examples though. The more or less you play, the more or less that you’re able to play. Many of the best pieces of music are improv jazz because it’s not thought through, it’s straight from the heart.
About the vacations: something that i’ve come to realize is that a vacation could be something as simple as taking a mental step back from your work and let yourself drift to another place. These quick vacations have helped me get through long days.
Rereading these posts months later: I’ve kinda realized that those life lessons probably came from lessons that I learned in band.