Playing A Violin With Three Strings

On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They
remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You
could hear it snap - it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage - to either find another violin or else find another string for this one. But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.

Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to
know that.

You could see him modulating, changing, re-composing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.

When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said - not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone - "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life - not just for artists but for all of us.

Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.

So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

article by Jack Riemer (received via email)

Unless You Let It In

All the water in the world
However hard it tried,
Could never, never sink a ship
Unless it got inside.
All the evil in the world,
The wickedness and sin,
Can never sink your soul's fair craft
Unless you let it in.
All the hardships of this world,
Might wear you pretty thin,
But they won't hurt you, one least bit…
Unless you let them in.

- Barbara Johnson

How To Deal With Challenges

Wherever you are and however much of an adventure you are having, it is safe to say that more than likely that you will be faced with challenges and obstacles on a regular basis. This is what life is made up of. Some of us though seem to have the knack of making it all seem so easy, while others get caught up in the negativity of the challenge and only see problems ahead of them.

Challenges can consume you if you let them. You can, on the other hand choose to focus on your strengths instead and see challenges as a part of life, which is exactly what they are. If you allow yourself to focus on the difficulty of the challenge, that is what's going to grow in size, yet if you focus on solutions for your dilemma, the chances are you will find one or even more possibilities for solving your problem. Through trying times, we do not want to believe that some good can come out of our challenging periods. Yet, if we look back on the difficult times in our lives, whether it be about a relationship, one's business, an addiction, financial problems or other ... have we not learnt more as a result of each challenge? Have we not grown and become stronger, more compassionate human beings?

I am not saying that we need deny the severity of the challenge and the pain it may be causing. It is essential to feel the emotion that has surfaced to be able to accept the challenge and what it means to us. Give yourself time, but then put on your obstacle boots, do what you have to do about it, do all you can do and when that is done and no more can be achieved at that time, let it go and trust that it will be taken care. Wait and be patient for the right time and then take another step forward. Do not expect that all challenges can be solved immediately. Some need time and there always seems to be a reason for this. When challenges arise do not think you are being singled out and punished. Challenges are the stuff life is made of. However, how you choose to overcome the challenge will determine your rate of success.

In the words of Mark Victor Hansen, “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what!. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more successful.”

by Kim Knight
www.kimknightcoaching.com

Listen to your Heart...

Here are few examples of famous successful men who have made a mark by listening to their hearts, by not giving up, by working hard day in and day out, by keeping their goals in sight. They had vision and they didn’t hesitate in pursuing their dreams. They trusted their heart and their capability. All you need to be successful in life is right aptitude, attitude, vision and determination.

Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III attended an exclusive prep school in Seattle. He later went to Harvard University and dropped out to take up Software Development. While studying, in 1970, he and Paul Allen wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for MITS Altair 8800, first commercially successful PC. In 1975 Micro-soft and later Microsoft Corporation was founded. He has been number one on Forbes 400 for over a dozen years and most important of all he is sharing his success with others for a noble cause; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation currently provides 90% of world’s budget for eradication of polio.

Dhirubhai Ambani
At the age of 16 he moved to Aden, initially he worked as an attendant at gas station and later as a clerk in an oil company. He started his business at the age of 26 with a meager capital of $375 and today we all can see where Reliance stands. He was awarded with Indian entrepreneur of 20th century by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He moved from Rags-to-Riches. He rewrote the Indian Corporate history and single-handedly breathed life into the Indian Stock Market.

Steve Jobs
After graduating Steve Paul Jobs enrolled in Reed College and he dropped out after one semester. In 1976, 21 years old Jobs and 26 years old Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer Co. in a garage. Jobs popularized the concept of home computers. By 1984, Macintosh was introduced; he contributed in the building of world-wide-web and is CEO and Chairman of Pixar Animation Studios. With the success of iPOD, Apple is bigger than ever. Very few people know that for several years he worked at annual salary of $1.00 and so he is listed in the Guinness Book of world Records as “Lowest paid Chief Executive Officer”. Though, he was once gifted $9 crores jet by the company. His net worth is more than $3 billion.

Michael Dell
Michael Saul Dell joined university of Texas at Austin with intention of becoming a Physician. While still studying, he started a company called PC’s Limited in his dormitory. Success of this company was good enough to prompt Dell to dropout at the age of 19. In 1987 PC’s Limited became Dell Computer Corporation. In 2005, Forbes listed him as 18th richest in the world with a net worth of around $1600 crores.

Subhash Chandra Goel
The ZEE Chairman dropped out after standard 12. At the age of 19 he started his own vegetable oils unit. A casual visit to his friend at Doordarshan gave him idea of starting his Broadcasting Company, and we all know ZEE became a huge success for the man. He knew nothing about programming, distribution or film rights but he very thoroughly understood the Indian sensibility. Funded by a UK businessman ZEE became first satellite channel in India and today it reaches 320 lakhs homes with 20 crore people in South-east Asia alone. It also covers Asians in Africa, America, Europe, Australia and Middle-east.

These guys dared to listen to their hearts and follow their dreams; they worked hard to succeed and results are in right front of us. Though above are the examples of college dropouts who went on to become millionaires, what we don’t know is that though many dropped out only few went on to succeed. This article is just to tell you to pursue your dreams but be sensible in the steps you take.