You can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails

Today is Teachers Day, and there is one teacher that has stuck with me for an amazing 9 years. Since I was a shy and quiet 8-year-old till now, there is that one teacher that has stuck through with teaching and helping
me - My piano teacher. I am doubtlessly blown away by her dedication to her job, her passion for all things musical, her store of patience that never seems to run out & the incredible love she has for her students.

She's the teacher that has tolerated all my laziness, put up with my excuses, persevered and persisted in motivating, inspiring & encouraging me, ever long-suffering with my unwillingness to practise the piano. She has seen me through the very first years that I touched the piano and loved it, till the years where I just lost my interest altogether and hardly touched the piano at all. She never once scolded, admonished, berated or reproached me with anger and frustration - how incredible is that?

Had I had any other teacher, they would have definitely given up on me altogether. But she never gave up on me. She actually understood that the piano was not my passion like it was hers, it was just something that I had to go through and finish. Her understanding and her heart is what makes her SO different from all the other teachers I have met - She treats her students as more than just a job or obligation... She treats them as an actual individual.

I'm still overwhelmed by the fact that she has NEVER given up hope on me, NEVER told me that I would not be able to pass my examinations, NEVER stopped telling me that I could do whatever I put my mind to do. You see, if you had actually seen the way I treated the piano, never practising it (unless you count the 2 hours a week in piano tuition as practise), putting it off incessantly, only practising 2 weeks before my examinations and then barely passing it... Understand that its INSANELY AMAZING that she never gave up, because honestly, if I were my teacher, I would have put myself off as a hopeless case and only teach because I was paid.

9 years later from meeting her, I am just so astounded that I have been ultimately blessed with an incredible teacher, guide and mentor. I do not think I will ever find another teacher that has beared and tolerated my behavior as she has, and its difficult for me to believe that in just 3 weeks time, my journey with her will be over. I'll be done with the piano. I'll no longer be under her, listen to her laugh about her adventures in Australia, Cambodia, Sabah and Bangkok, talk about her shopping sprees and the best places to find food... It brings me to tears that I will no longer see the best teacher I have ever had week by week anymore.

I can't say that I regret taking up the piano, because its taken me places in the ministry that I've never thought possible - but yeah, I'm glad its over. At the same time though.. I'll miss it. I'll miss having this amazing person inspiring me to be my very best.

I'll miss my piano teacher.