Practice Makes One Good at What They Do

That doesn't mean that practicing anything -- any ol' way -- will make one good at what they want to do.  What they hope to get good at, and what they actually practice, may be two different things entirely.  If they practice badly, they will do things badly -- and not that any amount of inattention to what they are doing, will make them proficient and expert.  They are simply practicing to be "bad" at what they do.  That is the objective for many -- who think there is no difference between doing something badly, and doing it exceptionally well. 

One can easily be deluded, and that is why it is important to check in with others for their opinions and perspective, and not dismiss them if they are not what one wants to hear -- that one is the greatest that ever was, and ever will be -- and cling to that belief despite everything telling them otherwise.  That is why a lot of people who only watch television all day, think they are capable of doing everything better than what they see -- because others make it look so easy and effortless.

But one never finds out the truth of that difference until one actually goes through the motions -- and then realizing that a somersault is not as easy as it looks, and what seems impossible at the start, becomes graceful and effortless -- along the way.  That is not their final destination -- but just one more milepost in the journey of their lives, and there is no going back, or standing still.  Life is movement, and thus, momentum -- either getting better, or getting worse -- but there is no just standing still.  Only the frightened mind, fearful of any change, hopes that they can simply remain the same -- forever, but that is not life, or any living being.

So at all times, one must ask themselves, "Am I getting better, or am I getting worse?" -- and if so, know to change one's course and direction.  Obviously, doing the same ol" things that made them worse, is not going to make them any better -- and so they have to start with just doing things differently, and let the results tell them what to do next.  One doesn't need to know the ultimate destination -- to start heading in the right direction, even if they have to try all the others first.  That is also the learning process -- and not simply never making mistakes.  In fact, the most successful people, will tell everyone that is how they got there -- and not that they started at the top -- fresh out of the Garden of Eden, and now are just trying to find their way back to that perfection, which they invariably call, "Paradise."

They wish to believe they started out perfect, but over time, lost their way -- and not that that work still lies before them, and they have to prepare and embark on that journey -- no matter how late in life.  Of course it is much easier to start as soon as one can -- but there is nothing more important to do -- at any stage and age in life.  That is the business of life -- all the little things and details that add up to the big things.  That is how one gets there, and not just by proclaiming their intent the loudest.

One has to get good at life and living -- and not just demand that that be so despite of everything they actually do.  It never happens that way -- no matter how many others one can recruit to join in their demands.  They have to do something -- besides demanding that others have to change the world  -- and their lives, for them.  That is the only way things ever get done.  The people who actually want them, have to get them -- for themselves first, and then it is possible for all the others.  But simply demanding that others deliver that to them, is the reason things have always stayed the same.

Nothing will change until they do.  When that happens, everything else is possible.

The Power of Exercise

The biggest difference anybody can make in their own lives is to exercise -- because that is invariably the person they are.  Nothing else is possible.  You are what you do, and if you don't do anything, the results are obvious.  That doesn't mean that a person has to climb Mt. Everest (or the peak of their choice) to prove they are fit -- or die trying to do so. 

One just has to be able to do everything they normally do -- as best as they can, and maintain those capabilities as long as they live.  That's really a simple task -- made difficult by doing otherwise.  Usually, they get distracted onto doing things that subvert that health and well-being -- with the rationalization that it doesn't make a difference.  Thus they are convinced, and convince themselves, that things that matter, don't -- with disastrous consequences to follow.  For a while, they say they should have known better, but after a while, they make no pretense for falling apart -- with no will or skill to make it otherwise. 

Then the worst just happens -- and they are powerless to do anything about it.  For a few, that is the beginning of the end -- of increasing hopelessness and despair, and the feeling that they will ever master and be in control of their lives again -- as they might once as a young person believed.  Now those dreams are over, and they can only look forward to diminishing health and well-being -- because it is "too late" to do anything about it.  But so was every moment before then.  That is their conditioning, that is the "shape" they are in.  It is both physical and mental, and their whole adaptation to life.  That is the person they've become.

So how can one NOT become that person?  That is the difference between those who are succeeding and those who are failing at life.  One is the master of their own destiny, while the other is the victim in every other's path.  For these latter individuals, life is more about what others can do for them, and less about what they can do for themselves.  Inevitably, there is very little they can do for themselves -- which is the skill set they never acquired some time in their lives -- having missed the whole point of what life was all about.  They never matured, and blossomed into a free and independent person -- at some point in their lives, and preferably, in the best years of their life.

For most, that is the golden years, and the golden age -- of when they do.  Instead, they were too busy chasing finish lines and fulfilling bucket lists -- to have remained at home, taking care of business -- and all those housekeeping chores that the wise build their lives upon.  They were out chasing fame and fortune -- at least in their own minds, while their own foundations were crashing down upon them.  One wondered -- when if ever, they would ever awaken to that awareness -- which was the only thing separating them from the happy outcome they sought, while choosing to chase the wrong things -- even if only because "everybody" else seemed to. 

But was that truly "everybody else," or merely the false idols held up before them? -- all seeking that same, elusive fame and fortune? -- they would give everything they had, until they had no more to give.  Still, they could replenish the well -- if only they knew how.  That was not something they thought important to learn -- as they were confident there was always more where that came from.  In that way, the best often become the last -- trailing badly as they limp and hobble their way to the end -- thinking they would always maintain their advantage at the head of the pack.  They only knew how to win -- and when the winning stopped, they had no idea what to do -- and so they perished, or merely shrank into a shell of themselves -- rather than reaching a higher level with every passing phase.

Such people, only want to stay young forever -- rather than growing into each successive stage.  Those were the best years of their lives -- that they now merely want to relive forever -- even if only in their own minds.  Far better would it be for them to exercise the best version of their present selves -- as though that was all that really mattered.  That doesn't mean simply repeating the past -- as though that was the only thing that mattered.  Surely what matters now, just as any other time in the past, is finding out what one's present (actual) capabilities are -- whatever that might be. 

That knowing and discovery, is what is important -- at any stage, and condition.  That is discovering "reality," and to know that, is worth all one's fantasies -- no matter how lavish and glorious one thinks they used to be.