I like to think of life as one big practice with a flurry of drills in between. The purpose of practice is to get better at something. The purpose of drills is to get better at a specific part of something. Basketball practice is to become a better basketball player. The drills exist to help one improve their shooting, dribbling, passing, or team chemistry.
Life is the practice and specific experiences are the drills that assist us in becoming our very best. We control the frequency and cadence of our reps on a specific life skill (planning, patience, exercise, etc.). Unfortunately, many of us sit out and don’t participate in such drills because of fear, image, inconvenience, difficulty, discouragement, etc. Without active participation we cannot develop that part of our life “game”. One does not become a better basketball player by simply watching others play. Real progress comes from trying to implement that which we are taught through coaches, books, videos, and the examples of others. We have to get on the court.
This principle of practice reminds me of a family vacation to Tahoe a couple of summers ago. My children had no experience ice skating. All of them, with the exception of Norah (my then six year old), held tight to the side of the rink and shuffled along…fearing the very uncomfortable fall. Norah approached it differently. She went to the middle of the ice with Grandpa and tried to skate on her own. She quickly fell. She got up and fell again. During that hour she must have fallen more than thirty times. But with every fall she learned and got a little better. She did not let the other skaters passing her by get her down. She just focused on doing her best (and that is all we can do).
By the end she was shuffling along on her own and doing pretty good. Out of all the Storm children she was the most independent skater. This did not come easy. Her hands were cold, body was sore but her face was gleaming.
Relate Norah’s persistence to our lives. It is not about how many times we fall but about how many times we get up. With each fall something can be learned. The more we pick ourselves up and not compare ourselves to others the better off we will be. Our spirits will be brightened by the light of progression much like Norah’s face was gleaming with excitement and satisfaction.
You may struggle with planning, budgeting, socializing, exercise, healthy eating, peaceful living, patience, selfishness, etc. The list goes on and perfection is not expected. What we should expect of ourselves is that we get out on the ice and practice. Focused effort to perform each rep and drill one experience at a time is the key to progressing into our best selves. We cannot do it all at once but we can do it one rep at a time. Persistence will get us everywhere in the game of life.
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