Practice Makes Permanent

I was having a conversation with a friend, about twenty five years ago. At some point in the conversation I said, “practice makes perfect”.

My friend and platonic roommate, Bud Clark, an accomplished church organist of many years experience and a Greek Orthodox Priest, said, “No Louise. Practice makes permanent.”

He continued, “If you practice something in the wrong way, you will reenforce the habit of doing it wrong. Therefore you will continue to do it wrong, permanently… Or until you stop, regroup, and learn from someone who’s been there before you. Learn how to do it properly, then continue to practice in the right way. The longer and more consistently that you practice the right way, the more you will displace the old, wrong way, and replace it with the right thing, the proper way.”

He continued, “This principle is applicable to almost anything. Whether it be playing an instrument, composing music, writing, improving your spiritual growth, emotional growth, improving your relationships, both romantic and platonic, such as in business.”

In conclusion he said, “As anyone who has had a significant hand in raising multiple children knows, for a fact, people are simply born different…Then the environment that they are raised in gets to work on them. So, people respond differently to different approaches. Choosing who to learn from, the…