Date: 29/01/2022 Shift: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Q. No: 23

A piano teacher described an interesting encounter she had had with a young lady who came to inquire about music lessons. The young lady asked her, “How long will this course take? My father tells me that it is in fashion now to be able to play musical instruments and that I should learn one quickly. I want something that will be quick, fast and easy like, like….” When the amused teacher explained that it would take a lifetime of meticulous practice to learn music, her face fell and, needless to say, she never came back.
The single most important factor that distinguishes those of us who succeed in any venture and those of us who don’t is this ‘instant coffee’ attitude. Most of us want results quickly. We want to reach the top immediately and get worked up when things go wrong. Perseverance and patience are forgotten words. We get upset, frustrated, and angry when a skill or activity requires us to put in a lot of effort and time. We get dejected and want to give it up.
But such thinking serves no good. For, it doesn’t solve the problem. Life is tough for those with an ‘instant coffee’ attitude.
Success, real success and happiness come to those who have a ‘bread-making’ attitude- those who are willing to knead the dough, wait for hours for it to rise, only to punch it down and knead some more, wait for another couple of hours for it to rise again, and then bake it before it is ready to be eaten. Nothing is instantaneous. For every endeavour – whether in the area of career, academics, music, sports, relationships, physical fitness or even in spirituality – it is a long, arduous journey.
Only if we are willing to put in the time, painstaking effort and have faith, can we get results. If we don’t accept this difficult-but-true fact of life, our lives will be far from being happy and fulfilling. For we may not make that extra effort which can change the course of life dramatically, for the good.
The major problems with these ‘instant coffee’ solutions are that they are invariably short-lived. If we stubbornly refuse to give up this search for quick solutions, all we do is end up on the wrong track.