Past one's prime pooch studying advanced manuevers

Learning new stuff when you are old is hard.  The saying goes you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well maybe you can but the old dog doesn't like it very much.

I'm trying to relearn 2 things.  One,  the violin.  I used to play when I was younger. I haven't played in a long, long time.  Probably about 30 years.  I was recently encouraged to pick it back up again after a friend of mine also started back.  I remember how to read music.  I remember how to play.  It's just the playing that sounds well...a little like a cat got stuck under a rocking chair.

I'm also trying to learn chords on the piano.  I sit down with all the best intentions.  I try a few chords and then I get frustrated.  Why can't my brain figure this out!  Over and over and over I plug away at it. It's starting to make a little sense.  But it's still hard. I wish I would have learned when I was young and my brain was fresh and mold-able.

Knitting is another thing I'm taking a crack at.  I know how to make 2 things: scarves and now dishcloths!  Thank heavens for Youtube!  That's the only way I figured this crazy knitting thing out!

It is rewarding to learn something new.  I just want to be good at it all of the sudden.  I just want it to turn out great right away.  But it doesn't work out that way.  It's a slow process.  It's try and try again. It's mess up and mess up some more.

Life's kind of like that too.  We make mistakes.  We learn. We grow.  We make some more mistakes. The older we are the harder it is to learn.  The more rigid and set in our ways we become.

But if I keep at it.  Get counsel.  Seek advice.  Watch others.  This old brain can create new synapses.
It's not impossible!   I have a song and a dishcloth to prove it!