My friend George Fontana once remarked "this getting old ain't for sissies".
Last night I was acutely reminded of that as I embarked on "Exercises for the Independence of the Fingers". (Time to get back to playing seriously as well as tuning.) Movements I could execute effortlessly in my 20s were stessful. After less than fifteen minutes my hands were so racked with pain I no longer could move them.
With that pain came the realization I'm just going to have to be more patient and work even harder to gain back the physical strength and agility I once had. But I'm determined to play Scriabin once again -- and play his exquisite music even better than I did before.
With age also comes understanding. Six sharps are no longer a problem, but patience is. Our challenge is to remember each moment as a gift and bless the body we do have. It's so easy to focus on the pain; yet it's our attitude toward the pain that makes the difference -- whether we give into it or grow through it.
Thich Nhat Hanh provides a different kind of exercise to help with the mental side of the ageing process.
There are so many things that can provide us with peace. Next time you take a shower or a bath, I suggest you hold your big toes in mindfulness. We pay attention to everything except our toes. When we hold our toes in mindfulness and smile at them, we will find that our bodies have been very kind to us. We know that any cell in our toes can turn cancerous, but our toes have been behaving very well, avoiding that kind of problem. Yet, we have not been nice to them at all. These kinds of practices can bring us happiness.
Well, it's time to go get a shower then off to work -- perhaps with a different attitude.
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