There are times you don’t recognize the gift until the gift has come and gone.
Some gifts are not necessarily all that enjoyable when they are first encountered. Maybe they need time to stew a bit.
Take this for example….My loving and kind parents gave me the gift of piano lessons. I usually did not like to practice. For eight long years, I endured practicing every day and yearly, horrifying recitals that made my knees shake so violently I had trouble focusing on the music in front of my nose. (Rambling sentence, I know!) And please, whatever you do, do NOT make me memorize it. You’ve been there, right?
So was the gift really the piano lessons? I think the gifts were these:
MUSIC APPRECIATION, CREATIVE INSPIRATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, HUMILITY
Today, I am thankful for the gift of piano lessons! For while I rarely sit down and play, I am always inspired by music. For while I rarely sit down and play, I have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. For while I rarely sit down and play, I have a stubborn perseverance to polish the product…whatever the new “product” happens to be. And lastly, even after I’ve polished the “product”, my mistakes cry out to me that I am still a work in process.
Thank you, Mom & Dad, for making me take piano lessons!!
No…that is not my actual piano! 🙂
Mindful Ramblings 
