The Practice is too hard if you don’t love it!

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I had the chance to attend a sound check rehearsal for The Piano Guys concert we were attending later that evening.  We only attended a small portion of the rehearsal where the cellist, Steven Sharp Nelson performs “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets”.  At the live concert they invite a group of young violinist to play part of the song with him and this was what we were there to watch.  At the rehearsal they got all the girls on stage and instead of just jumping right into the music Steve took a few precious minutes to give them the best piece of advice I’ve heard in a while.  He said “Have fun!  Smile!  You’ve got to love it!  The practice is too hard if you don’t love it.”

The practice is too hard if you don’t love it.  That hit me like a wave and I could barely keep it together. I didn’t expect to get emotional at a concert sound check, but that’s exactly what happened.  This is a lesson I’ve been learning over and over the past 9 years since I started my child care business.  It’s a lesson I’ve learned as a mother and seen other parents learn as they grow into their roles  It’s a lesson I hope all humans learn in many areas of their lives.  You’ve got to love the art, otherwise it’s simply not worth the practice.

Today I’m talking about the art of caring for children, yesterday he was talking about the art of playing an instrument, but the details are less important than the principle.  Have  fun, smile, love it!  The kicker though, the big secret is that Love is a verb.  Real gut wrenching, long term, world changing love is way more than the emotion.  As a parent (or caregiver, friend, lover, etc) love grows when you show up even when your tired.  Love is nurtured when you apologize when you screw up.  Love is cultivated when you hold that child close and ask what he’s missing, what he NEEDS instead of focusing on the fact that he’s literally made you want to tear your hair out every day for the last week.

Steve’s advice to smile and have fun was so powerful because those actions of cultivating LOVE are game changers.  They take us out of the mud filled practice arena and move us to the higher plane of divine love step by step.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t authentic and don’t sometimes have days where we just can’t smile and “love it”.  But mindset is a POWERFUL tool.  We will dive more into this concept moving forward, but for now just know that if you change your mind you’ll change your life.

In his videos Steven comes across so enthusiastic and intense that it almost can seem fake at times, but yesterday I realized it’s not an act.  He truly loves his art with his heart and soul and THAT is why is he so amazing at what he does and why he’s been so successful.  We can learn a lot of lessons from art and this is one of them that can be applied in any field.  Don’t just practice your art for practice sake.  Force you way into it’s secrets with a passion and love and that is where the magic happens.

To check out how the girls did last night on stage in front of 4000+ people find me on Instagram.

And I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

*Practice Quote Pic found at: https://quotefancy.com/quote/959630/Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Don-t-only-practice-your-art-but-force-your-way-into-its-secrets-art

*Love Quote found at: Pinterest.com