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Most of my posts start out with something like, “I just happened upon an article that made me think the other day…”  This one is no different!  Sorry!  I know, I need to come up with some original content, but sharing content that’s already out there that has had an impact on my life isn’t so bad either, as long as I add a few comments of my own, right?

I recently read an article entitled, “Stop reading about it and do it.”  It caught my eye because Charissa had once shared with me a quote that has stuck in my mind since.  First, the quote:

You cannot be successful without passion, but passion alone will not make you successful. ~Chelsey Rippy~

So very true!  Passion, enthusiasm and excitement are very necessary to success, but true learning, experience and the actual end result of success comes through doing.  Here’s the article!  It’s not very long, so don’t whine about reading it. 

We learn more by doing than by reading.

That’s a simplified statement, of course, because reading teaches us a lot, but it’s in the actual doing of things that we do our real learning. It may be a fairly harmless statement for most of us, but think about this: do you actually put it into practice? How about in your efforts to improve your life?

It’s easy to see how this applies in a school situation: In an article in the Chronicle for Higher Education, studies show that the best way to study for an exam is not to read and re-read, but to put the book down, try to recall what you read, then write it down. Much more effective.

But how about in your everyday life? This isn’t as obvious, but it’s just as effective.

When you want to improve your life in some way — by simplifying, by being more frugal, by starting to exercise or eat healthy, by learning more productive habits, by being a more positive or compassionate person — you are learning a new skill.

And when you learn a new skill, all the reading in the world won’t teach you the skill. You have to learn by doing.

So reading countless self-help articles and books are great — I’ve written a few myself — but remember that it’s only the first step.

You have to put the personal development posts away, get away from the computer or book, and start doing it. Today.

Only in doing it will you actually learn.

Reading does help though: first in helping you to understand what to do, and second in keeping you motivated as you actually do the skill. But it’s not a substitute for doing.

So stop reading this post, and go do what you want to learn to do!

- Leo Babauta, Stop Reading About It and Do It

So what’s the end result to us doing instead of just being passionate about something or reading about it and thinking it’s a good thing to do?  We learn, gain new experiences, and actually grow, instead of rely on a roller coaster of emotion that is bound to have peaks and deep valleys.  When we are doing, there is no time to dream, because we enable ourselves to live the very dreams that we are passionate about.

My grandpa sent me this story through e-mail and it was one of the first I had read in a long time. It got me pretty good as I count myself as one who leads a fairly busy life right now, so sometimes, I don’t have the opportunity to stop and just listen and watch what’s going on around me…missing some of the best and, really, most important things. Happen to you too?

Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”