Whether it’s basketball or personal resilience, we practice until it’s second nature.
Down the hill from my home is a boy who has been growing into a teenager. I’ve watched him playing hoops in the driveway against a backboard nailed to the garage. When he was younger he would practice setting up each shot, one by one: a lay-up, a bank shot, maybe a free throw. Over time he began to master a jump shot, even a slam dunk. He practiced until the moves became second nature.
I’ve been thinking about him as I continue to wrestle with the voices in my head having righteous, opinionated, judgmental conversations with my decidedly wretched neighbor and her equally wretched aunt. And then I catch myself. Minutes or more of my life have been squandered churning over what I should have said, could have said. Is this the way I want to live the time that’s left to me?
So, I practice with the intention that compassion and loving kindness might become second nature. Will it take a lifetime? I don’t know. I’ve not yet lived a lifetime. I can tell you this though: I’m definitely scoring more baskets! Swish!
Prompt: What are you practicing that’s beginning to pay off, become second nature? Write that story!
Practical Tip: Share your story with someone or something: your journal, your animal companion, the trees in the woods, friends, companions, master mind group. All that matters is you practice and share the story.
All content and image © 2019 – Present Quarter Moon Story Arts
Contributors
Diane Wyzga, Podcaster, Story Artist & Wordsmithery Coach
Featured Image: Markus Spiske (Unsplash)
