Stillness 7-17: It’s interesting to realize how good any of us can get at something if we devote most of our attention to it. In the old days, someone might apprentice for seven years before being able or allowed to set up shop for themself. In some instances it took generations to perfect a particular expertise or wisdom. Nowadays, we tend to be very distracted. Our days are broken into hours or lists or tasks or appointments and there’s very little time for long sessions of doing cartwheels on the lawn over and over. Or playing chess for a long time. Or sitting in meditation all morning. Those things have to be scheduled.
But the more you do something, the better you get at it. An acrobat in a circus spends most of their time playing on a tightrope or a trapeze, practicing tricks and strengthening muscles, and learning to trust their partner and themself. If you devote yourself to practicing scales on the piano for twelve hours a day, your piano playing will improve. If you concentrate on walking on hot coals without burning your bare feet you’ll find that—with many years of focused attention and practice—it can be done. Our mind is a powerful tool, and our body learns to achieve what we use our mind to focus on.
So what will you choose to practice? Your daily practice is actually a form of stillness. What you do becomes who you are. So choose wisely what you want to put your energy toward. Otherwise, you’re always saying to yourself “I wasted my time,” or you distract yourself from your real passion, or you think you have to complete a list you set yourself before you can embark on doing what you love. Be like a circus acrobat: play with the possibilities, practice day in and day out, and deepen your trust in doing what you love.