Taking Risks

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have been talking about this in our playing lately. We are just too conservative and play it safe an awful lot. By this I am not talking about POLITICS! I just don't get into that on my blog but any way. Our playing is in the middle to much. One saying that my kids hear a lot is "you almost made music but you got scared and ran away." The students will almost put all of themselves into a phrase or a passage of music and then chicken out and pull it back in. My suggestion is "Go for it!" Don't be afraid to be wrong. Risk takers are the ones that truly get the greatest rewards. Of course sometimes it won't work. Sometimes you may fail. Sometimes you may just get it wrong. But it is the times you do something nobody thought you could, the times you surprise yourself, and the times you succeed that make it all worthwhile. Sometimes to not take a risk is the riskiest choice of all. My suggestion is this. Do things that are uncomfortable. Do things that make you stretch your abilities. Do things you can't do. Do the impossible. Do it for you. The greatest rewards are ones you realize with yourself and those closest to you.