Guitar playing is just like weight loss.

Hello again...another blog. Wow 2 in one day!! It occured to me the other day that losing weight is just like guitar playing. I have been playing guitar for almost 29 years now and I think I am pretty decent. I have worked hard at it. Practiced alot through high school, practiced while I watched TV, played in bands for about 20+ years and have just jammed with friends and musicians from time to time. I remember the first time I picked up a guitar. My fingers hurt from pressing on the strings, my hands could bearly make a good sound. My Left hand was not working at all with the right hand. I thought....how in the world am I going to be able to play this. I wanted it more than anything in the world. I would go to my friend's house and hear his brother playing songs just like the guys on the albums I had at home (for those of you younger readers...records are those big black circles with the holes in them). I was determined to learn. I took lessons in 9th grade. learned my chords, learn some scales, learned some strumming and got my hands to actually work together. Over the years, I took lessons from better teachers, practiced alot more with friends and on my own, and was focused on becoming the best I could be. There was mental challenges and physical challenges. I automatically wanted to be the fastest player without learning the basics. Speed would have to wait, I decided to do it write and learn scales, rhythms, chords, timing and so on.

This brings me to my original point. Losing weight is difficult at first. I am teaching my body and mind a new instrument. Its going to be frustrating. I am going to want to put the "guitar" back in the closet and say I can't do it. But then after a few weeks of "practicing" I will be getting better. It will get easier. I will see the changes and know that I can do it. I don't want to have the fastest weight loss. I am willing to do it right, and in the long run it will be worth it. Just like the guitar, there are equal amounts of mental challenges as there are physical challenges.

Today I watch new kids picking up the guitar for the first time and I see the love and determintation. They'll see me playing and ask how long I'be been at it and I say "longer than you know it". Then they say, "I'll never be able to do that". I tell them I didn't play like this right away. I practiced alot, learned from others and made mistakes on the way. Makes me think about the weight loss. If you want it bad enough, and work at it really hard, you can do anything you put your mind to.

Thanks for reading,

Scott