Practice

Thing One's piano teacher said something to him today that really struck me.  She told him that practice does not necessarily make perfect, but it does make permanent.  

Her point was that all the practice in the world does not necessarily help if what you are practicing isn't correct.  If that's the case, all you are doing is ingraining whatever you are doing wrong to the point where it becomes exceptionally difficult to fix.  (She is trying to get him to slow down and make sure that he is playing his assigned pieces correctly before he burns them into his muscle memory.)

When she said that, I immediately thought about my martial arts class.  I recently discovered that I have been doing a particular move completely backward for weeks.  Not quite sure how that happened, but it is the sad reality.  Now, every time I perform that move, I have to make a conscious effort to do it correctly, which is a pain in the ass but my own fault.  

I guess the takehome lesson is a broad one: be careful what you allow yourself to practice, since that will become your habit, for good or bad.  Reflecting tonight on the fact that beyond physical activities, this also includes how I think, how I treat others, and what I say.

I'll be practicing my lessons too.