To Forgive is Devine…

I recently did a gig with my band Different Folk where at first we messed everything up. We were playing in a new venue and had hoped to make a good first impression. We started songs in the wrong key, forgot words, messed up fiddle tunes. Pretty much anything that could go wrong did. As the night progressed though, we did get better, and by the end of the night were the back to being the band that we usually are.

So, what has this got to do with forgiveness? Well, as the night wore on I was thinking about the fact that the best musicians still make mistakes but are able to move on from them quickly. I am always telling my students that you have to let go of your mistakes and focus on what is coming. The more you think about how badly you just played, the more mistakes you make, and the more removed you are from the performance! If you let go of the mistake and focus on playing well for the rest of the night, no one will even remember your mistake! An audience is there to be entertained and not to keep score of how many mistakes you have made!

In the end, I think this advice applies to life in general. Those of you who have been reading my blog know that I have been working on losing weight, and it has been going really well! You also know (by looking at the calendar) that we just passed Easter, and talk about needing to be able to forgive yourself! I love chocolate, and certainly ate some (or maybe a little more than some) over the Easter weekend. One ‘trick’ to long term weight loss is also allowing yourself the occasional transgression, don’t beat yourself up and get back on-track!

Forgiveness is an integral part of my life and what I do. I have always been good at forgiving other people, but it is equally, if not more important, to allow yourself to make some mistakes, get back on track, and then move on with the experience and knowledge that you have gained.