oh, practice )

Oh yeah, Paws, good call about PRACTICE being a member of our "basic elements of life" list.

So true.

Practice is a funny word. It's one of those that, in and of itself, is neutral and doesn't mean anything "good" or "bad." But it's one of those terms that people (yes, especially people who tend toward eating disorders) often develop strong feelings about- usually, of course, judgmental ones!

You guys see where this is going... if perfectionistic thoughts get involved you suddenly think practicing is bad and wrong, and if you were good enough or smart enough or cute enough or strong enough or fast enough you'd be able to do anything and everything instantly and would never need practice...practice is actually for losers...

In fact, practice is AWESOME. It's (you'll roll your eyes here) kind of a gift we get throughout our lives. We get to keep learning and discovering and trying out things and refining our knowledge and understanding of things and developing new skills and interests... it's actually WAY cool.

And, by the way, ALL of us get to practice all the time. Consider this- the some types of things are even called practices! Like people who do yoga- they call it a yoga practice; or meditation is often called a meditation practice. I'd submit to you guys that even this is true: if we aren't practicing, we aren't fully living. 

I like to think of a life of practice, and the practice of recovery, and the practice of being true to ourselves, and the practice of learning to live fully and authentically, and the practice of allowing ourselves to have what we want and need... see? there's so many good things to get to practice!

Thanks for the reminder, Paws!

Have a good day of practice dudes :)

Comments

[PTC]

Ugh, when I think of practice I think of having to run full field suicides and just doing lots of drills and sprints. I didn't always hate practice, but games are WAY better!! I wish we never had to practice and could just play games. Then again, I know that if I didn't practice, I wouldn't have been the athlete I was (am). I also think, if I had practice harder, I could have been better. Oh no...perfectionist thinking. lol. No matter how many awards or "great games" I got, I still don't think I was good enough. I could have been better.

Okay, I totally went off on a "practice" tangent and it didn't pertain to this post at all. I guess it could fall into the perfectionism posts and never being good enough.

Okay, I'm shutting up before I say more pointless things.

[leanonme]

Grrrr my post just got dropped. I will try to repost later. Man i hate that.

[Pauses4paws]

Thanks Johanna, firms it up more for me with your examples.

And, to know it's true doesn't make it any less annoying sometimes.. Since I know that Practice is essential, and I accept it more now that I did in the past in pursuit of "life things," why is it that doing any task over and over to "get it right," (usually requested by someone else) really really bugs me?!Hmmmm.....Isn't that "practice" too? Oh well...I still have to do it, even if I get all resistant about it!

Your examples reminded me that a doctor has a Medical Practice, too. Now theres a way to make me hope that practicing, life-long, is a good thing!

[wendy]

I love how you know when we are thinking, "Oh, yeah!" or practice is for losers or rolling our eyes. It cracks me up when you say things like that, but because of the struggle with perfectionism it is kinda right on.