We can bring the
greatest of all liberties into our individual lives by living true and correct
principles. This liberty comes to us as
we live as though Jesus Christ were walking beside us.
The liberty principle for today
is the third in a series of true principles suggested by Elder Richard G. Scott
in his book 21 Principles – Divine Truths
to Help You Live by the Spirit. I
will merely introduce the principle and suggest that you obtain Elder Scott’s
book in order to truly understand this principle. Elder Scott explained that principles “are
concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of
circumstances. A true principle makes
decisions clear even under the most confusing and challenging
circumstances.” You can see principle #1 here and principle #2 here.
Principle #3 is the simple fact
that we must try something new if we hope to reach a different goal. “Although the principle of doing new things
to achieve new results applies in many areas of life, the underlying quality is
the same. It is creativity. Creativity is what allows us to see things in
a new way [or think outside the box]. We
can enhance our ability to think creatively by engaging in pursuits that are different
from our normal activities….
“Search for feelings that prompt
you to try something new yourself, and if they are not there strive to generate
them….
“Every individual has creative
capacity. The satisfaction and growth
creativity generates is intended for each of us, not just for the most gifted….”
Elder Scott described his
hesitation to start painting and shared the joy he receives from using water
colors to create. I am gaining the same
joy through learning to play the piano. I
did not have the opportunity – or the inclination – to study music as a child
or youth. I had no natural musical
ability or any musical training; therefore, I had no appreciation for the finer
points of beautiful music. I remember
assemblies in high school that featured musical numbers. I really enjoyed listening to performers who
sang songs, but I did not particularly enjoy listening to instrumental
music.
In my young adult years I began
to understand the importance of music and insisted that each of my children learn
to play the piano. They learned the
basics, but none of them continued to play, although a couple of them played
instruments in school bands and some sang in choirs. I remained tone deaf until recent years when
I began to practice playing the piano on my own. I gradually learned to tell the difference
between the right key and the wrong key.
Later I had the opportunity to sing with a choir long enough to learn
the difference between harmony and melody.
Still later, I learned the difference in the sounds made by different musical
instruments.
I recently found an excellent
piano teacher; actually I rediscovered her because she taught my children. This discovery came about in a very
interesting way. I was doing my regular
practicing and realized that I had not advanced in over two years. I said to myself, “I am not making much
progress trying to learn to play the piano on my own. At this rate, I will never learn to play at
the level I desire. I wonder if I can
find someone to give me lessons.” That
very afternoon I received a card in my mailbox from my friend Chris looking for
more piano students. I had no idea that
she lived in my neighborhood and had been there for eighteen years!
I called and made arrangements
to start taking lessons from Chris. Two
weeks ago she told me that I had moved from level two to level five in just a
few weeks. Last week she told me I had a good ear for
music! I almost laughed out loud! Only I knew how truly tone deaf I had been
and the long road I had traveled to receive this wonderful compliment, which I graciously
accepted without any explanation.
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