Daily Inspiration 2-10-19

"What is the difference between

an intellectual understanding and knowing?

Practice.

What is the difference between

knowing and being?

More practice.

Or, better stated:

Practice more often."

-- Albert K. Strong

[Classic post from 10-27-17]

I've often flashed on the way a newly-minted M.D. opens what is called their medical practice, and how lawyers will state that they are practicing law. We may not think of it as practice the way we might normally think of using the word practice, but it really is that if you think about it. A new M.D. or a new lawyer is going to get some practice in their practice or they aren't going to be a very good doctor or lawyer, are they?

We think of practice quite easily when we think of learning to play a musical instrument or to improve our dance skills, or any skill from level to level. We sort of take that for granted, don't we? If we want to get better and improve, we have to practice. No matter what skill we want to improve upon from mountain climbing to running a marathon, to skydiving, to gymnastics, to public speaking, we will need to practice, and as we practice, there is the potential to become what we might call art, or to be an artist.

When someone has practiced a great deal, they could be said to be at the top of their game. They have a lot of experience at what they do. They know their trade or their skill and they may even become known as an expert in their field of study.

When it comes to physical things, I think we understand all of this and accept all that I have just covered, but it may seem to be different when it comes to things of the mind or the heart. I think in these areas we might seem more vulnerable, less confident, less in the knowing, and the being of it may not even be on the radar.

Yet, it is the same in the mind and heart as it is in the physical body. If we want to go from an intellectual understanding of something to an inner knowing, this requires practice just like nailing the dismount in a gymnastic performance. Heck, in many cases in our learning, we may not even get to the level of intellectual understanding unless we practice.

Then to go from a good understanding to true knowing of an idea or concept or subject to having it become us, or a better way to say that might be to have it fully integrated into our thinking and actions, truly requires a willingness and commitment to practice more often, to have it at the top of our mind perhaps as we move through our day, until that magical day (which may never actually come) that we don't give it any more thought at all. Then it simply is.

We go from learning to understanding to knowing to being. It is the level of being that all artists want to get to, and yet here is the easy part of all of this: It doesn't require skill. It only requires practice.


I Used To Practice To Really Know. Now I Practice More Often. Joy-Fully. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Injoy your day.