Oliver Wendell Holmes was quoted as saying, “A few can touch the magic string, and noisy fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!”

Our music.  That wonderful melody and harmony we often refer to as our gifts, abilities, and passions.  Some live their lives in a way that shares their beautiful music with the world.  Sadly, as Holmes so appropriately said, many are buried with their music still inside them.  Are you sharing your music?

As we go through our life journey, there are steps we can take which will enable us to share our music.  In musical terms, these steps include:

Composing – In this phase of our life, we are discovering and writing our music.  We are working to understand our gifts, skills, abilities, and our passion in life.  What gifts have we been given?  Are we a great listener, teacher, leader, or parent?  What are we “good at”?  What are we passionate about?  During this phase as a composer, we are trying to make sense of it all and compose it into a piece of music called life.  How does all of this fit together to make “you”?

Rehearsing – Once we believe we understand our music, we begin to rehearse it; to build it, fine-tune its tempo and pitch, and make it a masterpiece.  Perhaps we go to school to improve our skills.  Maybe we work within an organization to build our competencies and abilities.  Our goal is to take the music we have composed and rehearse until we are ready to share it with the world.

Performing – Once we have composed our music and rehearsed until we feel it is “great”, we are now able to perform it on the stage of life.  We are ready to share our music with the world.  Once we share it, our audience then carries the melody around in their hearts, singing it and sharing it with others.  Remember, your music doesn’t have to be perfect to share it.  Don’t paralyze yourself by over-rehearsing your music.  Have a “jam session” and share it as you go!

What are you doing now?  Are you composing, rehearsing, or performing?  There is no wrong answer to that question as long as you are working on your song!