One word at a time

The piano is a far easier instrument to learn than the guitar, even the clarinet is a breeze by comparison, at least you seem to be making progress far earlier: at least the sounds you are making somewhat resemble music, at least in its most rudimentary form.  With the guitar you spend weeks just trying to make the basic chords sound right, not to mention trying to convince your hands, that yes indeed they can bend into that shape and yes, in theory, your fingertips will eventually quit hurting.  Once you can finally play the chords, then you have to try and play them in a certain order and fast enough that a single song doesn't take half an hour or longer.  But it is also strangely rewarding, even if you are lightyears from even playing a simple song, though you can probably play a simple ditty on the piano after the first lesson.  When you finally master that awful F major, you actually feel like you've accomplished something, what, you're still not certain, but you've accomplished something!

Life's kind of like that, regardless of what you are trying to accomplish (or aren't).  Five minutes here, ten there, day in and day out, those little habits soon become instinct and rule our behavior and decisions, whether we are aware of it or not; turning the rudder slightly can send the ship veering miles off course, so it is with our lives.  That's why each thought, each word, each action or inaction, are so important: they become the very stuff of which our lives are made.  The good news is we can drastically change our stories, one word, one thought at a time, and if we are persistent, we will soon have accomplished something, even if it is small at first.  But so too can we sink ourselves by making bad choices or refusing to take action or police our thoughts or habits or activities.