I teach music. I sometimes prompt my students, “practice makes…” and if they’ve heard the expression they chime in, “perfect”. Then I tell them “I disagree, I think practice makes permanent!”
What I practice is what sticks. The more I practice it, the more indelibly it is written into my subconscious, wired into my nervous system, and I’m therefore able to perform it in that same manner with ease.
Next I exaggerate holding my instrument poorly, playing carelessly and sloppily. I ask “if I practice like this, what will I get good at? What’s gonna stick?”
“Playing like that!”
“Precisely! Practice makes permanent!”
Such a simple concept and yet so powerful. Just as I can practice carelessly, or fail to listen to the quality of my tone, or the intonation of my notes, so can I speak and think carelessly, falling into well-practiced patterns of fear and negativity.
I’ve been witness to this all week, and honestly quite aware of this habit even before I embarked on the Master Key Experience.
I’m really good at catastrophizing in my mind. I catch myself regularly thinking of the worst possible eventualities for the circumstances in my life, or in the lives of those I love most.
I have realized how often I make decisions based on these unreasonable fears. Through faulty thinking I somehow believe that by expecting the worst, I’m preparing myself to defend against whatever catastrophe may beset me.
This is the opposite of the constructive imagination that Haanel writes about in Part 8 – rather it is destructive imagination. It is a well-practiced skill that does not serve me well at all. So I am committing to a new practice!
I keep working on my mental diet, replacing fear and negativity with hope and constructive imagination. I am thankful to have some tools tucked inside my book, and to have a community of support in my MKE tribe. Practice makes permanent!
