Things of value

She walked slowly to the guitar and touched the strings. Just a slight touch produced a simple, and not very pretty, harmony. 

It is easy to produce tones on a guitar or a, for example, piano. You just have to pull the strings or press the keyboards and you will surely get a tone. 

But producing a sound is one thing, and making music… Something entirely else.

When I was a kid, I remember pulling the strings on the guitar and thinking: “Why can I get only 6 tones, when musicians can produce all those beautiful melodies? We use the same instrument, it has the same 6 strings.” 

But if you’ve ever tried producing a tone that is not one of those empty strings, but requires pressing strings with a left hand, you know that it is not just that simple. Fingers hurt. 

When you manage that, try adding other fingers and pressing more than one fret. At first, it is not a familiar position for your hand. Your fingers are not used to those movements. Fingertips hurt, they are too soft for a hard metal or plastic string. A fist will probably cramp. Blisters are possible. In the beginning, the process of learning is not a pleasant one. What seemed simple from afar, becomes a bit more complex when looked up close.

To produce a tone, you need fingers or hands, or lips and breath, and a little bit of strength.

To make music, so much more is required.

A lot of learning. A lot of mistakes. A lot of time.

The same is true with so many important things in your life.

With learning crafts.

With evolving talents.

With gaining deep knowledge.

With becoming great at something. 

With tailoring the career of your dreams.

With building relationships that matter. 

With getting to know yourself.

With healing.

With returning to yourself.

With love.

Beautiful things, important things, things of value – they take time.

Time, it is the most valuable thing that we have and that we can give. Isn’t it then the most logical thing that time is the currency for all those invaluable things in our lives?

Nature needs significant time for change, evolution, and growth – from a human perspective some things seem even endless – and that is the beauty of it. Let’s cherish and respect that things in nature take time. We cannot expect the plant to grow the day after we plant it. We have to nurture it for weeks, months, maybe even years before it gives the first fruit. 

Why would we then expect the most valuable things in our life to come without trying, investing our strength, doing the work, without learning and making some mistakes on our way?

Beautiful things, important things, things of value – they take time.