Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 210 – The Concert
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 210 – The Concert
The Concert (04-14-08)
I would like to tell you a story about a concert given many years ago. I loved it the first time I read it and ask you to please understand that this is not original. I am only relaying the message. The story is one that I retell, but the words are my own.
The lights in the concert hall began to dim, alerting patrons that the concert would begin shortly. People found their seats and silence began to fall over the massed spectators. A young woman, returning to her seat, discovered to her dismay, that her child was missing. About to leave and seek help, she was caught in the hush of the audience as the curtains parted to reveal the stark, gleaming black Steinway piano that occupied and dominated the stage.
The woman, turning to make her way up the aisle, glanced at the stage and to her horror saw a little boy, her little boy, sitting at the keyboard of the instrument. She was beside herself and her condition only worsened when the child began to peck out the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the keyboard.
The audience began to laugh, and that laugh soon turned into applause as the featured performer, the piano master, stepped out from the wings of the stage and made his way to the piano. He walked up behind the child and whispered in his ear, “Don’t quit; Keep playing.” He then reached around the child with his left hand and began filling in the tune with a bass part and soon with his right hand, almost as if embracing the child, reach to the right to add a running obbligato.
Together, they played the tune to its conclusion and the audience was delighted beyond measure, so much so that after the child returned to his mother, and Ignace Paderewski, the most famous artist of his day, finished a two hour concert, all they could remember of that evening was, you guessed it, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
So much of what we attempt and even more of what we actually accomplish in our lives, is often not really worth taking note of. How often, do our efforts seem to pale in comparison to what others are capable of doing? It’s easy to get discouraged and think that, like that little boy, we are merely tapping out simple tunes, while others are fashioning great melodies. We give our best efforts, but they may seem feeble and unimpressive. I have to wonder what Paderewski sounded like, the first time he sat at a piano. With practice and persistence, and with the help of those who have gone before us, we can turn our “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” into a veritable personal masterpiece. Just like that little boy, we must always hear the voice in our ear saying, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.”
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Have a Great Week!
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__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
John maybe you thought about this already but in case you haven't, when you get less of a response to a MMMM than you expect "just keep playing" there are more people than you know listening.
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Haven't you noticed that there are fewer views and responses to virtually EVERY post? It's because many people are overwhelmed by the huge number of new logs and threads these days.
In people's logs, they're talking about being abandoned by their friends, being lost on page 5, etc. It's just different, now. We must adapt or reset expectations.
First, unsticky and move some of the crap at the top. Make a subforum for charts and challenges, and move all the deadlift, squat, and 300/400/500 crap there.
Sticky each Motivator for the week, then release it when you put the next one up. If the MMMM Archive isn't kept up to date, uh... keep it up to date or let it go.
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
__________________
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Walk on
With hope in your heart
And You'll Never Walk Alone
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There's no free lunch, especially when it's served with special sauce (lostdog)
***************************** My Log - PC Plod
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
I read alot of the motivators too, even if i don't reply to them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Dog
Haven't you noticed that there are fewer views and responses to virtually EVERY post? It's because many people are overwhelmed by the huge number of new logs and threads these days.
In people's logs, they're talking about being abandoned by their friends, being lost on page 5, etc. It's just different, now. We must adapt or reset expectations.
First, unsticky and move some of the crap at the top. Make a subforum for charts and challenges, and move all the deadlift, squat, and 300/400/500 crap there.
Sticky each Motivator for the week, then release it when you put the next one up. If the MMMM Archive isn't kept up to date, uh... keep it up to date or let it go.
IMO
I agree with most of that, but unstickying and moving the top threads(there isn't really that many), would just kill those threads and do nothing else.
Stickying the most recent motivator is a good idea though.
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 210 – The Concert
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