It's worth it

So you decided to stick to your practice plan today. Good for you. The invisible forces of nature will be on your side as soon as you sit down on the bench to play.

Since the hardest part is sitting down, it should feel like it's downhill from there.

Except it isn't.

You sit down on the bench, you say your prayer, you open your music and you begin to play. About 90 seconds into the practice your mind registers a simple thought:

It's not worth it
It's too boring
It's too complicated

The thing is you don't won't to stop practicing. No, you like playing the organ, don't you? But you feel the urge to stop practicing the right way (whatever it means to you right now).

How you choose at this moment, will decide the success of your entire practice session. Will you give in? Will you let yourself play without a goal? Or will you stay the course, keep calm and keep moving?

You're a wise person. You know better what it means to give in so you make a choice - keep up your focus and continue to practice the right way.

Pages turn and minutes fly and you feel like it wasn't very difficult after all. It's downhill from there once you get going. But the hard part was around those first 90 seconds.

The trick is not to fight it. The trick is to acknowledge it. To be aware of this thought, feel the fear or pain that arises from this thought, face it and do the opposite of what it says on purpose.

It was worth it, wasn't it?

Sight-reading:
Ricercare by Floriano Arresti (1667-1717), an Italian organist and composer.