Practicing Patience Fia “But I don’t wanna.” I complained to my mom when she told me to go do my violin. “Fia, it’s not an option, you have to practice every day.” she replied going back to her computer, signaling the end of the discussion. “Fine.” I groaned, stomping to the den to practice. I turned the fifteen minute hourglass over and picked up the instrument. Not caring if it was tuned or not, I began to play whatever I had left on the stand the night before. The music was new, and every couple of measures I would mess up, stop, write a marking to help me remember the note and keep playing. When I finished the play/stop/correct method through the song once, I quickly looked at the hourglass. It had barely changed since I started. Frustrated with myself, I repeated the same method as before then looked at the hourglass. Barely any difference. I dropped the violin in frustration on the couch and sat down next to it. Instinctively, I reached for my ipod to check Facebook. “Wait,” I thought, my hand freezing just about to grab my ipod from the table, “Do your violin. It has to get done. Facebook will be there when you finnish. Discipline Fia, discipline.” I stood up, grabbed my violin and went back to Mozart. This time I went line by line, playing slower than before and hitting every note. I tried again but picked up the tempo so I was playing at the regular speed of the song. When I finished, the hourglass was empty. “One fourth of the way done.” I thought to myself and flipped the timer over again. My thoughts turned to my ipod and Facebook seemed like an amazing idea at that moment. Before I could even walk to my ipod, I quickly reminded myself that Facebook could wait and the faster I practiced my violin, the faster I would be finished and free to go on Facebook for as long as I wanted. The last forty-five minutes went by in a whirlwind of notes, bowings and fixed mistakes. Having finished my hour of practicing, I grabbed my ipod off the table and checked
Facebook, absolutely nothing was interesting as I scrolled through my news feed. “Wow,” I thought, “what a letdown. But at least I got my practicing done.” “Wow Sophia I’m really impressed with your practicing this week,” my violin teacher complimented me after listening at my lesson a few days later. “Thanks,” I replied smiling, pleased with myself and my practicing.