Procedure Part 3: Revising the Plan

It's been a week of changing focus and priorities.  My third goal is to learn to play the piano.

Back when our daughter was a young teen, we purchased a used, upright piano.  It's a small instrument with real ivory and ebony keys. It can sing in the hands of an experienced pianist. It's 70 or 80 years old with gentle Art Deco lines I love. I love the feel of the old finish on the wood. I love the slightly warm feel of the keys. I love knowing that it had many years of life before it came to our home.  It's a piece of art as much as an instrument to me.

I was listening as a man at church described his mother's attempts to enhance his cultural education.  First, there were tap dance lessons.  Then there were accordion lessons. Finally, he took piano lessons.  For six years from age 6 to 12 he practiced 2 hours per day.  It's been many years since his last lesson but those hours are still evident.  I can imagine him playing Chopin as easily as Scott Joplin or classic rock as easily as a sweet hymn.  There's an enthusiasm as he plays that I find infectious. My fingers almost tingle with a desire to play something recognizable as I listen.

Now for my conundrum, how do I find the time to learn to play the piano?  I was taking lessons earlier this year for a few months.  My progress was slow but it was progress.  I had high hopes for being able to play a seasonal song by Christmas of this year.  Then summer hit like a tornado in a barbed wire fence.  My teacher was in the midst of selling her house and moving to a new one.  Summer camps, summer chores, summer responsibilities all squeezed my time until the meager 30 minute daily piano practice time was delayed a few hours, then a few days, then a week.  It's been 3 or 4 months now since I dared make a faltering attempt at those last exercise assignments.  I dread knowing just how much I've lost over the months with no practice.

This week, my first two goals attained an even greater importance with the news that hip replacement surgery is in my future.  Those goals must be a top priority now for the sake of health and longevity of an already damaged joint.  The weight loss is coming along at a reasonable, sustainable rate. I'm no candidate for a "Biggest Loser" contest but I consider myself a winner for the sustainable progress in diet, fitness, and weight loss that I've made.

I'm needing to toss a new goal into the mix.  I need to learn to swim. This is no longer an option for some day in the future.  Swimming is an activity that would be beneficial as a low impact exercise before and following surgery.  I can't imagine trying to learn to swim at the same time I'm trying to learn to live with a new joint.  It seems imprudent to delay learning to swim until the need is imminent. I can do this but where do I find the time?

Perhaps there's a few minutes in the morning, before the hustle of the day begins where I can caress those ivory keys, if awkwardly. It's going to take an higher degree of personal discipline than I've asked of myself to this point.

Proverbs 19:15

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;

And an idle soul shall isuffer hunger.

Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty:

And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 

Benjamin Franklin

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Perhaps, even further changes are needed to ensure I have adequate rest as well as adequate waking hours in the day to reach my goals.