Empath Health Blog, Jim Andrews

Director of Spiritual Care Jim Andrews

I had a guitar teacher once who used to tell me that a great performance was 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. In his popular book, “Outliers” Malcolm Gladwell builds on this idea with his assertion that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in any field. So why don’t we have more masters out there? We know what it takes, right?

Perhaps part of the answer is that while we all have dreams, only a stalwart few of us have the metal to put in the blood, sweat and tears day in and day out over a long period of time to make those dreams a reality. It’s easy to have enthusiasm in the beginning when our idea is shiny and new and we haven’t yet encountered obstacles or had to make sacrifices. It’s another thing altogether when we have to pick ourselves up off the ground for the thousandth time, discouraged and disillusioned and keep on trying in spite of it all.

There are goals in this life that are worthy of this dedication and determination. May we discover what these goals are for ourselves and never ever give up until we have planted our flag on the summit of our chosen mountain.

Have a great week everyone!

Jim