Behold the Stars

When I was younger, a friend and I played music in local clubs. It was nothing special, really, just two college guys playing acoustic music in places that would let anybody play. No matter how badly we had played, someone would come up and tell us how great we were. We got requests for our original songs, and girls would cry when the sad ones reminded them of their recent breakups. Often, as people were saying how much they liked a song, my inner voice was also talking: “Didn’t they see that you missed a note on the solo? And what about the flubbed word in the second verse?” My suspicion was that either they were lying to be kind or had tin ears. Couldn’t they see that we weren’t any good?

It’s true. We weren’t any good — compared to our heroes — but for two local guys, we were okay.  We took these “gigs” seriously. We practiced, worked up interesting harmonies and guitar work, and tried very hard to set a standard above what others were doing. But what ultimately mattered to me was one simple thing: practice was challenging and fun, but performing was Hell.

I have to admit that one of the reasons I stopped performing so many years ago was that during my performances I was totally focused on perfection and aware of every mistake. I thought that music, like math, had a right answer and a wrong answer. You practiced, got it down, and then played it perfectly in performance every time. So when I missed a note or forgot a lyric, it felt like failure. Disaster.

Four hours of playing each night. A room full of appreciative ears. A handful of compliments. A handful of tiny mistakes. Which do you think I took home with me?

Think about that for a minute. You’ve been there, and you’ve had friends who have been there. You know where I’m going with this. Is there a better way to make ourselves miserable than by discounting the positive in our lives and acts?

Look at your life. I suspect you’re doing some of that right now in some area or another. Work? Relationship? Hobbies? Cooking? Where are you doing something pretty well, but not giving yourself credit or not enjoying your success?  Think about it.

Make a great day.