EADGBE

I tried my hand at playing guitar too late in life.  I was in my 30's when I finally decided to learn. I should have started while still in my teens, when absolute immersion in something is easier because teenage hours are like buckets of water in the ocean.  My path in life took me in a different direction but I am still glad I've picked up the guitar, as horrendous as my playing is.

In a way, playing the guitar is like coffee in the morning.  You can't play scales or form a few chords while your mind is on something else.  You have to focus. Cancel out the external and internal distractions.  Internal distractions are the biggest.

If I can eke out a half hour practice from time to time, when I put my guitar down I notice the focus is still there and it sticks.  I can solve problems or come to terms with an issue so much more easily.  It's such an amazing way to snap my thought process into a calm shape.  The problem is I didn't pick up the guitar and do this enough over the past few years.

I just didn't have the time.  I couldn't find the time.  I didn't make the time.  There was too much to do and far too much was at stake, all the time.  Time now is more like buckets of water in a pond.  It's a smaller area but I can at least see the other side.