Many years ago my son Joseph was practicing the piano in the music room. Over and over I heard him play the wrong note in a particular passage, and eventually I called out to describe his mistake. Still he played the wrong note, which puzzled me.
I walked in to watch Joseph play and discovered—for the only time in my life—that the note printed on the page was wrong. I knew the piece, so I used a pen to correct the error.
By that time, however, Joseph had learned to play the wrong note—it had become a habit—so he continued to play the note incorrectly several more times. With practice he learned to play the note and the piece accurately.
It is my experience that we do not intentionally play the wrong notes of our lives, just as Joseph did not intend to play the wrong musical notes. No, we lie, express anger, and manipulate people because we’re playing from music printed with the wrong notes. We have little choice but to play the notes that were given to us.
If the notes are corrected—if we learn correct principles in place of the errors we were taught—we can begin to choose faith, truth, and love. In many cases, we have been playing the wrong notes for decades, so even when we do learn true principles, we continue to play the wrong notes. But with practice, we can learn beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that are far more productive. We can learn to be happy.
Learn how to choose faith, truth, and love.
READ OR LISTEN TO:
