Bad Feeling Options

[Gertrude]

Some days I feel like I want to quit playing and that my life will be a lot less complicated without the hard work in trying to make the time for practice.

How did others get around this?

[corenfa]

One of the following usually works for me

1. Play stuff I enjoy without even trying to practise.

2. Play stuff I used to play and haven't for a bit - this helps me recognise improvement. I have to be careful not to be perfectionistic about it and recognise improvement in perhaps smaller chunks than I used to - so for example, noticing that there are two bars I used to have trouble with that I don't any more.

3. Do it anyway - force myself to do it in the same way I may go to the gym or eat vegetables "because it's good for me", trusting and knowing that it all adds up. Then forget about that practise session and not dwell on it because doing so would just wind me up thinking of the things I still can't do.

4. Take a break recognising that sometimes if I feel overwhelmed with other things, something has to give. This is also done knowing that if I skip practise for a couple of days I won't automatically regress back to grade 0.

5. If other things are causing the overwhelmed feeling, drop some of those instead.

[Gertrude]

3. Do it anyway - force myself to do it in the same way I may go to the gym or eat vegetables "because it's good for me", trusting and knowing that it all adds up. Then forget about that practise session and not dwell on it because doing so would just wind me up thinking of the things I still can't do.

This is what I am doing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I = know = that I would never forgive myself if I stopped playing! I seem to have hit one of those "dips" and they do seem to be an occasional thing that many people suffer.

Thank you all for encouraging words and "food for thought". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)