“worth • while”

“worth • while”

I had a proud dad moment this past weekend.  And it led to a major teaching moment for my son, Henry.

He is 13, and has been playing the violin for 10 years, thanks largely to the persistent efforts of my wife, Heidi.  She has pushed him and kept him from quitting many times, and he has finally found the internal motivation to practice himself.  And he’s getting accomplished.  This year he started private lessons with the violin professor at our local university.

This weekend was district Solo & Ensemble, a competition for middle and high school aged musicians.  It’s friendly and low pressure; technically you compete with yourself and not others, earning a numerical ranking for a performance graded on technique and artistry.  The highest mark one can receive is a “starred first”, which means competing a couple weeks later at the state competition.

Henry has been practicing his solo for months, rehearsing with his accompanist for weeks.  It’s a challenging and virtuosic piece that intimidated me well into high school and even college (I'm a violinist too), and he has largely mastered it in middle school.

At the time of performance he went into the performance room with an entourage that included myself, Heidi, my mom, his brother, and his school orchestra teacher, who is a super awesome advocate for Henry.  The moment had arrived.  He performed.  And he crushed it.  I was so proud.  He truly rose to the occasion, doing better in performance than I had ever heard at home or in rehearsal.

Later that day we learned that he had achieved the coveted “starred first status” and that he will go to state at the beginning of April.  Way to go Henry.  You are truly an inspiration to me.  One of the most persistent, self-motivated and courageous people I know of any age.

Henry was so excited that he jumped and danced around our house in celebration.  Today was his violin lesson and I figured he would be thrilled to share the news with his teacher, the university violin professor.

I told him this morning “Henry, remember that at the end of the day you get to share your great news with Miss Anna!”

Henry replied “Do you REALLY think she’ll be interested to know my score?”

I was a bit flummoxed by that response.  He really thinks she doesn’t care?!

I explained to him that we humans have limited time, and that if we hold a high valuation of ourselves we will be quite selective in how we use it.  I said, “Henry, a musician and educator of her caliber would only teach you outside of the considerable demands of her professional duties if she considered doing so to be truly…worthwhile.  There are numerous students she would decline even if they paid her the same rate.”

That got me thinking about that word, “worthwhile”.  I find words so fascinating.  They come down to us through the centuries, carrying their carefully chosen references to qualities of experience, and we bandy them about with little awareness.  It’s good to stop and notice their meaning and structure from time to time.  Let’s do that together.

“worth • while”

Wow.  Do you see it?  It’s actually the ENTIRE human condition in one word.  So brief you could miss it, yet so potent and meaningful.  Possibly the most meaningful word we use.

worthwhile


worth • while

“worth” = value

“while” = time

It’s all about the value we bring to our (limited) time.

It’s what we’re all doing, always, whether we realize it or not.

So, are your actions worthwhile?  Are you filling your time with what you truly value?

Miss Anna was of course very excited to hear of Henry’s success.  She finds teaching him to be worthwhile.

And supporting him as a family is worthwhile for us, like few other endeavors.

How are your moments?  Filled with the value you desire?  If not, it’s time to examine your own personal valuation and make sure your actions and experiences are indeed…worthwhile.

Every action you (or anyone takes) is the result of a calculation.  Money is part of it, but meaning will always be the most important human currency.  Make sure you optimize each moment to be truly…worth • while.


Want to talk about making each moment more worth • while?