Have you ever waited a very, very long time for a particular goal to come to fruition, and then finally had it manifest even better than your wildest expectation?
If I said "C3" to most of you, you’d think I was referring to the bone between the axis and the fourth cervical. But to someone who knows about grand pianos, C3 has a completely different meaning.
You see, over twenty years ago, when Regina and I bought our first home, we dreamed of owning a beautiful grand piano. It was the first time we ever had room to think of putting one, and I began my research innocently enough, only to discover the vast complexities of selecting the right instrument.
My investigations took many months, playing numerous pianos, making distinctions — Steinways and Baldwins have a smoothness across the whole register that made it hard for me to get pop sounds out of them, Korean pianos have the punchiness in the low end but seemed too thin up top — I auditioned dozens of them, and I came to one conclusion — I wanted a Yamaha. And, with the hundreds of hours that went into figuring out what I really wanted, I assumed that this would lead me to a quick and uncomplicated purchase — but it was not to be.
The model I wanted was difficult to find, because people tended not to sell them — I could have gone with a new one, but I really wanted one about twenty years old, properly broken in and proven to be durable. I looked — and I looked — and I played lots of almosts — but I just couldn’t find THE piano.
Fast forward about fifteen years — as a fiftieth birthday present, Regina decided to sweeten the pot by offering to buy me the piano of my dreams, if I could only find it. With my parents willing to go halfies, the pressure was on — after all this time, could I find what I was looking for? After so many near-misses, what would it take to reach my objective? I called every shop in the area, but to no avail. More months passed, until last week, when on an inspiration, I called a couple of local piano dealers — one of whom said, in a surprised voice, "As a matter of fact, I do have one, a beauty — I’ve had it for months, which is so odd, because usually they sell in a few days. Maybe this one is waiting for you."
Prophetic words indeed — I met him at the showroom, and when I walked in, my heart jumped — I knew right away that this was what I’d been looking for. I sat down, played for ten seconds, and turned to the smiling dealer — five minutes later, I was the proud owner of a Yamaha C3 Conservatory Grand Piano, the realization of about two decades of visualizing, taking action, failing, getting up and taking another shot, failing repeatedly, but never losing sight of my goal, until it finally came to be.
If there’s something big you’ve been working at accomplishing for what seems like a very long time, keep your vision in mind, and never give up — I learned from Tony Robbins that God’s delays are not God’s denials, and sometimes it takes longer than you expect. Refuse to settle for less that what you deserve, be willing to pay the necessary price, and you, too, will see your dream come true.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
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