Extra Practice = Extra Ordinary

"There is, of course, no substitute for work. I myself practice constantly, as I have all my life.  I have been told I play the cello with the ease of a bird flying.  I do not know with how much effort a bird learns to fly, but I do know what effort has gone into my cello.  What seems ease of performance comes from the greatest of labor."  Pablo Casals

Have you ever heard of Pablo Casals?  Many people - with greater musical talents than I - view him as perhaps the greatest cellist of all time.  (You can check out the video below for some of his music, or spring for a Bach cello track on iTunes  if you need some great chill-out music.)  If you spend any time with his music, you recognize that his reputation is well-deserved.  However, his obsession with practicing is almost as legendary as his music .  When Casals learned Bach's cello suites, he practiced them every day for 13 years before playing them in public.

Daily. Thirteen YEARS.

I don't know about you, but there's very little that I want to practice that consistently over that length of time. Casals wife said that he was practicing the day before he died, and when she asked him why, he replied , "I keep hearing improvement."   Aside from talent, the will to practice is the difference between Pablo Casals and me (and maybe you?).  The desire to be extraordinary isn't worth much unless it's matched by the desire to practice.

Practice brings something extra to the process.  In short, practice turns "ordinary" into "extraordinary."

When I read about Casals, I can't help but feel challenged to think about the things in my life that I want to be beyond ordinary; what do I want to be extraordinary?  And, more important, what EXTRA effort am I expending to make that happen?

What about you?  What areas of your life need more practice?