Decisions
de·ci·sion
a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.
• the action or process of deciding something or of resolving a question.
• a formal judgment.
“Choice are the hinges of destiny” ~ Pythagoras
We all make hundreds and hundreds of decisions every day. Some
decisions require considerable, conscious thought, weighing out the
potential consequences of our options, while other decisions are made
unconsciously, where we are completely unaware that we even made a
decision. These types of decisions are so habitual and routine that they
don’t take any thought. Do you remember making the choice to brush your
teeth this morning? To shower? Sometimes, we just find ourselves in the
shower not even realizing how we got there. Other decisions are made
after much thought and careful deliberation. Should I buy a new car, where
should we go on our family vacation this summer? Is now a good time to
refinance our home? Regardless if a decision is one that was well
examined and contemplated or one that was hardly noticed, every and all
decisions have a consequence and impact our lives in various degrees of
importance. One decision that I made in 2000 completely, 100%, changed
the course and direction of my life and that of my family’s. |
Music has always been a big part of my life. I grew up in Salt Lake City
and took violin lessons from a neighbor. This was before the Suzuki
Method had taken root in the area, so my lessons were more traditionally
focused. My mother drove me to my teacher’s house, dropped me off then
picked me up 30 minutes later or I just walked. Regardless, the point is, my
mother was not involved in my lessons or my practicing at all. She just
paid the lesson bill, thank goodness!
Fast forward to 2000, I was married with 4 children, all boys, ranging in
ages between 12 and 3 and was expecting my 5th child, a girl! My
husband was self employed, and we were in the frantic craziness of
parenting and family life. A sister of a friend had moved in my
neighborhood in the small town of Brigham City and was offering Suzuki
Violin lessons. My friend called and wondered if I wanted to put my oldest
son in private violin lessons, since he was already in the Intermediate
school’s orchestra. I thought this was an excellent idea so I enrolled him in
my neighbor’s studio. Small, seemingly inconsequential decision #1.
He was able to walk to his own lessons, which was fantastic, since I was so
busy with 3 other children and very pregnant. One day his teacher called
me and suggested that I come to his lessons to watch and take notes. I
thought the idea was absurd! Why would I do that? My mom never did
that with me and I turned out fine! And besides, I was too busy for that!
She also had the strange suggestion that I should practice with him! “He is
12 years old, he can practice on his own”, I thought. “That is crazy”! She
could see that she was not succeeding in her attempts, so she tried a
different approach. She knew that I also played the violin, so she
suggested that I could maybe take this opportunity to learn how to teach
violin lessons myself. Brigham City could use a permanent violin teacher
since she knew that she was not going to be there for long.
I was intrigued with that idea and began taking lessons from her myself.
Very small, quick and easy decision #2. I still was not sold on the idea of
the importance of attending my son’s lessons, but after a few lessons of my
own, I began to catch the vision of the Suzuki Method of teaching and
made the conscious, well-thought-out decision to become a Suzuki Parent.
Very, very consequential decision #3.
I spent the next 22 years teaching violin lessons in my home and driving
3-4 times a week to Salt Lake City so my two younger children could take
Suzuki Violin lessons from the master Suzuki Teacher, Debbie Moench.
Major, life altering decision #4. Both of my children were in the original
Gifted Music School orchestra in 2009 (another life changing decision
#5) and ended up studying music in college. My son discovered his love
and talent for singing (another series of what seemed like small decisions
that had major life altering outcomes for him) and received his bachelors
degree in Vocal performance at the University of Utah and my daughter is
preparing to graduate from Juilliard with a bachelors degree in violin
performance. Her particular decision to attend Juilliard and move to New
York City, resulted in her meeting her future husband there and they are
now planning to be married in May. Does it get more life altering than that?!
Just like a switch at a railroad station where a small piece of steel is moved
only three inches to change the path and direction of a train and its
eventual destination, so do every day decisions have the same ability to
alter the direction and path of our lives thus dramatically changing our
trajectory. I never imagined when I enrolled my son in violin lessons with a
small town Suzuki Teacher, that our lives would be intertwined with music
and that this would be the journey for me and my family. It has been an
extraordinary, unforeseen adventure, all set in motion with what seemed
like one, small, insignificant decision made 22 years ago.
Today’s decisions are tomorrow’s realities, life today is a collection of
choices made yesterday. ~ Author unknown.
