As you may have heard, one of the great classic rockers, Eddie Money, passed away this past week.
Since he was one of my favorites, I decided I would do a little tribute to him and post a video of me playing a guitar solo from one of my favorite songs of his – Two Tickets to Paradise…
Eddie Money – Two Tickets to Paradise: Guitar Solo Tribute
Video
The thing is, the solo is not easy to learn. It has some very tricky rhythms and patterns to it. It took me quite a while to learn how to play it.
At one point I thought, “Maybe I’m spending too much time on this. Maybe I should just improvise some of my own stuff. I mean, after all, I’m sure the lead guitarist who played the original didn’t play it the same way when he played it live.”
Then I thought…”But I’m so close.”
I felt like this was about Eddie, not about me – that it was a tribute to him, not me. I felt like it would honor him more if I spent the time to learn the solo rather than do the easy thing. I know people would really appreciate and recognize the solo from his song.
The cool thing is the response I got that validated the hard work I put into it.
More important, though, than the validation from others was the satisfaction and joy I got out of pushing past and mastering a really fun guitar solo.
Can you think of things that you do in your life that are difficult and tempt you to want to give up on when you’re so close? Or, even when you’re not close at all?
It may help to envision people being impacted by your perseverance. It may also help to envision how you will feel when you have accomplished your goal.
Here’s to perseverance and doing things you really love to do!