That familiar
motto from The Little Engine that Could
was chugging through my mind as I approached the piano at the Hunterdon Hills
Playhouse for my first ever piano
recital. I've played piano for many years
but never really mastered it in large part because I’m terrified to play in
front of people. When I was a child, I talked
my way out of a recital every year, telling my piano teacher that we were going
to be away that day. It sounds clever, except
for the fact that she lived down the street from us so she knew our comings and
goings. She was very kind, though, so
she never pushed me. I think she knew
that if I were going to really overcome my fear, I’d have to push myself; I’d
have to want to conquer that fear, and I’d have to think I can.
I have
a personal theory that every one of us can accomplish anything if we really want
to. My theory isn't found in the Catechism
of the Catholic Church (that I know of), and it’s not the philosophy of some
great mind who died a long time ago. It’s
a theory based on my own experiences, my observations of others, and my belief
that we’re all created in the image and likeness of God. Now, before you write my bishop, I‘m not
claiming that we’re gods. We’re
not. But I am saying that God has given
us tremendous talents and resources to make us happy. He wants us to use these talents to create
his Kingdom here on earth. Now that’s a
pretty tall order, so he must have given us a lot of talent and a lot of ability. And he did.
I've seen my theory proven true over and over again because I've seen so
many people do extraordinary things.
But I've
also seen a lot of people fail at what they set out to do out of fear – fear of
failure. It seems strange that being
afraid to fail can actually lead to failure.
When we allow our fears to get the best of us, we just give up, out of
fear, and we fail. It’s amazing how much
we let fear govern our lives. How often
do we say, “I’m not good at that,” or “I can’t?” That’s fear talking. I love
music, but I've allowed my fears to keep me from enjoying it as much as I
could. I allow my fears to limit my
happiness.
It’s even stranger, though, that
repeated failures are the building blocks of great successes. We all know the countless adages that
encourage us to keep trying: “If at
first you don’t succeed, try, try again;” “Practice makes perfect;” “Wash, rinse, repeat!” Talents have to be developed; we have to practice
them; we have to grow into them. Whether
it’s playing a musical instrument, painting, playing a sport or even shampooing
our hair, if we really want to do it, we have to keep trying. We have to choose to not let fear control
us. We have to think we can.
