I play the piano.  I learned for a few years but did not get into it like many do.  Looking back, I wish I had.  As it was I learned enough to be able to bluff my way through.  I was pretty  good at that.  I headed up a band and we were asked if we would play at a do for a football club like the Broncos.  We declined that but did play at Christmas do’s and at an air show.
I thought of all that because I was thinking about saying yes to things and sometimes only finding out down the track what it entails.  I am thinking that often iterations of the same thing are more challenging than the last.
Maybe that is like a “durr yes” thing but it has been reinforced to me of late.  I was binge watching a series yesterday and one of the things that stood out to me was saying yes was way more costly than imagined.  Constantly they were saying that things were simpler in the past.
I guess that is where the piano example applies.  I was unwilling to take it further than I did.  It would have meant aiming for a more intimate knowledge of the piano.  I - to my regret, acknowledge I was unwilling to do that.  I see the fruit in people’s lives of pushing through and I am really glad for it and rue the fact I am not one.
This actually had me thinking about goals.  I am a great one for saying things like, “aim for nothing and you are sure to hit it.”  I also see huge advantages in aiming for something no matter how vague it may be because I reckon it is better to hit something rather than nothing.  I am thinking my piano playing was a bit like that.
But it does occur to me today that the more committed I am to something the more demands are placed on me and the greater the importance of accuracy.  By that I mean when something is vague, “there or there abouts” makes for a good start.  In the piano example a song maybe vaguely recognisable.  But the more I see myself following a course of action the more I need to adhere to the way it is done to achieve the desired outcome.  In the piano example again I play the song as written.
Some things I want to achieve.  I would have said “at all costs.”  I still do but with a greater understanding of the costs - and that the costs genuinely cost.

I read something recently that Albert Einstein said and I love it. “The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty and truth.”
What I particularly like about that quote is that it is not about building an institution that can help (though there is a time and place for that me thinks) but about being an institution to help.
It is about the inspiration that is found in everyday things.  Things that everyday people aspire to and can achieve.  It is not about things that only the few can access as they may require oodles of money, influence or power.  But it is about things available to all and which can be exercised by all.  And things which require no interpretation to understand what is on display.
It is a favourite topic of mine but I do think kindness, beauty and truth are manifestations of love.  Even marred beauty remains to me beauty as so often beauty is less about what is and about what could be.  I think everyone or all are made for beauty.  Not all exhibit what they can be, but my role remains always to encourage expressions of beauty.
To me it is the same with kindness.  There seems to me to be much hate and hurt on display at the moment.  Less on display but no less there, are acts of kindness.  To me the most rewarding acts of kindness are for those who cannot return the act of kindness.  To my mind it is one thing to show an act of kindness to another who almost feels almost obliged to reciprocate, and another thing to show an act of kindness to someone who can only receive at that moment.
There was a mum we gave some donuts to as a treat for her kids.  She just cried.  She loved her kids and wanted to show an act of kindness but was not in a position to do so food wise.  That is until we did what we did.
A small thing but a big thing.

Ain’t that the truth.
I never know what is going to be in the James Clear email, but it seems there is always something I can relate to.  Today is no exception.
"Exceptional people are rare. When you find someone wonderful, invest in them.

• When you find a great employee, pay them well.
• When you find a great friend, prioritize the relationship.
• When you find a great spouse, out-love them each day.

Relationships are probably the most important part of life. Take care of the great ones."
I cannot over-emphasize the importance for me of finding and keeping someone great in an area I know I am not so great in.
I say it regularly when you find a good one keep em.  It is like that for me with mechanics.  Car maintenance and knowledge is definitely not my strong point. But we use someone who’s strength is mechanics.  We have used the same team for years.  We knew they were goodies.  How?  They did not try to rip us off and what they did met our requirements. But they never failed to tell us how things were.
I went to a mechanic years ago who said I needed to spend an incredible amount.  I went to someone else and it turned out I did not.  Sure the work would need to be done, but it did not need to be done now.
Keeping great friends I find is a no brainer.  I remember saying to someone recently that I did not want to lose so and so.  With great friends I feel I am on the same page.  I may get somewhere via a different route, but we get to the same place.  And when ever we get together it feels like we start where we left off, and no time has passed in between.
I feel blessed in having a great spouse.  The longer I travel the road the more I appreciate a companion of the same mind and with the same goal.  In so many ways I feel I lucked out, but I know it was all someone’s good planning.