The other day I had occasion to recall a conversation I had with my daughter years ago; she might not appreciate me disclosing it to the world, but then she doesn’t read my blog!

Life is good…

We were talking about practicing her instrument when she was in her high school band.  It was her considered opinion that practice was not necessary to improve one’s playing of the sax, after all the kid who was first chair and obviously the best sax player (he was really good) said that he never bothered to practice!

My thought then, and now for that matter, was that he didn’t want any competition; and that strategy worked for him in high school because as far as I could tell he never had any.  Of course, my daughter, realizing that old people like me don’t actually know anything useful, stuck to her guns and proved some kind of point.  In the process, she was never first chair…

I recall that in that long-ago discussion I quoted a verse from the Bible that I think we can all take a lesson from; certainly, I need to read it every so often myself…

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
    but he who hates correction is stupid.

Proverbs 12:1

You just have to love Proverbs; it’s so pithy!  It’s also so practical and correct, and this one is one I try to stay mindful of, especially when someone is helping me to see better ways of doing things!

Oh, by the way, that kid who told the other kids that he never practiced…? After high school, he worked his tail off and became a member of the United States Marine Corps. Band, The President’s Own.

He practices full time.