Article March 5, 2012 Issue

Practice makes perfect

By Joe Gariano

“The best students are those who endure the challenging stretches of practice in order to achieve new levels of ability.” 

That’s what a music teacher once told me. He explained that all students are required to expand beyond their comfort zones in order to get better—but that through experience, the best students come to associate the uphill climb of the moment with the corresponding new height they’ll reach in the future. Through this association, he said, students learn to welcome—even enjoy—the trials of practice.

I’ve found that this wise insight also applies to other areas of life. I had a recent experience in my practice of Christian Science that demonstrated the same principle.