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            Imagine that you want to be a concert violinist.  Someone gives you an old, poorly made violin on which to practice.  Of course, you wish you had a Stradivarius, the best violin in the world, but you don’t.  So you study day and night, you pour your heart and soul into playing that inferior violin well.  One day, a benefactor appears and hands you the Stradivarius you always dreamed of.  Your hands shake as you pick it up, and then you begin to play, and you play exquisitely.  The reason you can play so beautifully is not because you’re using an instrument that’s worth $250,000.  You play so well because you had developed your skill as a violinist.

            If you had not learned how to play that old,

secondhand violin properly, you would not have been able to play the Stradivarius.

            If you don’t develop your skill at enjoying what you have, you won’t be any happier when you get more.

Real Moments, Barbara DeAngelis, Ph.D, page 19