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Unfinished

I am an unfinished instrument. I am constantly re-vamping and adjusting my life to fit my needs and those of my family and friends. Much like building an instrument, I'm building my life. I don't personally have any experience in building instruments, so I see it as a puzzle. I like solving puzzles.

No instrument is the same. I play the violin, piano, and I sing. I grew up with music in my home and music continues to surround me. The dedication to my craft(s) wasn't something I just woke up and had one day. My mother pushed me to practice, my teachers supported me, and once I fell in love with those instruments, I had the motivation to practice perfectly.

What is perfect practice? Perfect practice is failing over and over and over again. Perfect practice is diligently fixing that one thing that you can't quite get, and then moving on to the next thing that is difficult. Perfect practice never ends.

And so it is with entrepreneurship and with life. I've tried multi-level-marketing as a Mary Kay saleswoman and failed. I've tried teaching music to children and quit multiple times. I've tried starting my own boutique and failed. With all of my quitting and failures, I've learned what works for me and what doesn't. I've learned what I can do (even in times of great difficulty), and what I cannot do. I don't look at any of these failures in a bad light because of what I have learned from them.

I am currently enrolled in online college courses. One of those courses is an introduction to entrepreneurship where I will be introduced to other entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs will be sharing their experiences, and I, in turn, will be able to learn from their mistakes and successes. I'm very excited to do so.

This week alone, I was able to learn a little from Jim Ritchie. In an introductory video I watched about "Launching Leaders" he spoke of surrounding yourself with friends. Many of the friends he referenced were authors of self-help and motivation books. They are friends because of the lessons we learn from them. What a wonderful mindset.

A meaningful life, a well-made instrument, is made with quality time and love. I'm excited to continue to develop my unfinished instrument with the support of my family and friends.
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