Some are Born Great?

I've been thinking a little bit about what it means to be "great".
I was talking to my cousin tonight.  She is 19 years old and is the pride of the family.  She graduated high school with the highest scholarship through the music program and is a college freshman prodigy (in both piano performance and dance).  Needless to say, she has pulled off many a perfect performance.  However, it is not her "perfection" that impresses me.  She recently performed for a large amount of musicians and performers.  She picked a song that she was comfortable with, played it through perfectly (multiple times) that day and was as prepared as anyone could be.  However, in the middle of her performance, she blanked.  She fumbled for a bit, before completely stopping and picking another spot to start at.  This happened again.  To end her torture, she just randomly played the last chord and got up and bowed.  Many a musician has been destroyed (by themselves) by a performance such as this.  Instead, her attitude was one of "at least I look good".  She is able to laugh at herself and move on.

I think this attitude and trait is especially admirable.  Yay, cousin!

Just for fun, I was reminded of some of my own performance mishaps:

• When I was 11 years old, my family was in an outdoor musical.  During one of the scenes, I carried my baby sister across the stage.  Somehow, the Velcro on my skirt came undone and I was left to try to hold up my skirt with one hand while carrying a baby with the other.
• As I accompanied a soloist, the book of sheet music fell hitting multiple notes on the piano (my friends later told me they thought I had passed out and that was the sound of my head hitting the keys...).  Not only was the song rudely interrupted, but I was left to improvise the rest of the song.  Poor soloist...
• Another Accompaniment mishap (this time with a choir) also involved sheet music falling to the floor.  I was left to play with one hand while I picked up the music and found my spot with the other.  This time, the choir never even noticed!  The reason I mention this experience ties in with my thoughts about my cousin.  I felt like I accomplished much more by continuing on in the face of the unexpected than if I had just played the entire song perfectly.

 Take home message:  Talent and skill don't matter unless you can move forward in spite of challenges.  This takes courage and perseverance, but you can do it!