{quotable thursdays}

I just started reading Verghese's Cutting for Stone and found this great excerpt within the first few pages. The boy is asking what he should choose to do in life and his mentor responds "What is the hardest thing you can possibly do?" & the boy says "Why must I do what is hardest?" & then the mentor gives a good piece of advice:
"Because, Marion, you are an instrument of God. Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?"
I think we often shy away from doing things that are hard. I see it more & more in the generation of kids growing up--parents don't want to see their kids suffer, so they give them everything they think their kids need, when all that the kids actually need is to learn the facts of life and to face a few hard things once in a while. I think it's important to learn how to succeed, but more importantly, how to handle failure or how to struggle. I think back on the times in my life when I've felt the biggest sense of accomplishment, and it's always after making it through the tough times that I have learned the most--about myself, about life--& it's those challenges that inevitably have made me who I am.
I think we rarely live up to our potential--that's not to say that we shouldn't enjoy life, or that we should make life harder than it should be. But I do think we need to change our priorities. Hard doesn't mean doing the 'regular' things that people expect from us--working long hours for the sake of working long hours, or to make loads of money... sometimes hard means not taking the path expected...All I know is that working hard for something you really want can be the most frustrating, maddening, and tiring thing, but it's also the most rewarding. Don't sell yourself short and make sure you're in tune with yourself enough to know how you can work hard to maximise your strengths. Now go out there & be the most amazing you!
Happy Thursday!
xo
L

{make wishes, try hard}

{no matter how small or tall aim high}

{don't be lazy, study hard}

{take risks, maybe move or choose the path less travelled}

{Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?}

{reminds me of me as a kid with our siamese cat practising at the piano}

{me & my nephew, Christmas 2005}