When I was a kid, Mother pushed me to take up a hobby. To be honest, her idea did not appeal to me at all. So, when she was dragging me to a music teacher’s house for the first piano lesson, overcome by fear, I cried my eyes out.

The teacher turned out to be such a harsh woman that I dreaded the thought of seeing her. Often I could not finish the music composition she assigned for my daily practice. In those days, I always found myself praying that the teacher would be taken sick or that she would have no time for the lesson.

As strict as the tutoress was, she was encouraging. Once any little progress was detected, she would highlight it and praise me for it. In time, my confidence level for the instrument went up.

Gradually, I could sit on the piano stool for a longer time. I started to enjoy the notes coming from my fingertips. When I was immersed in my practice, the teacher would be standing by, smiling with satisfaction. I felt proud of my hard-earned achievements. Back at home, one evening Mother recorded my playing some pieces and shared it on her WeChat Moments. The vid earned a lot of likes and thumbs-ups from her friends.

It is a pity that I did not participate in any serious piano contest because of my heavy study schedules in middle school. I have not practised as much on the piano since I started high school. To my amazement, when I am in the mood and sit down at the instrument, beautiful notes can still be flowing out as my fingers are dancing on the keys.

I am known by family and friends as a person whose enthusiasm for a thing comes and goes like passing clouds, yet the piano has stuck with me, as a result of the ten years I invested in the practice. Nothing else has held my interest for so long.

In retrospect, I could not appreciate more Mother’s prodding me into learning the musical skill in the first place. Over those years, I did shed many a tear for the daunting pieces, and the idea of quitting surfaced many a time. Yet, thanks to Mother’s initial push and my own eventual perseverance, today I end up with glorious vistas on the life journey, and my drive for a better self gets stronger and stronger as time elapses.