The colorful, nineteenth-century showman and gifted violinist Nicolo Paganini was standing before a packed house playing through a difficult piece of music. A full orchestra surrounded him with magnificent support. Suddenly one string on his violin snapped and hung gloriously down from his instrument. Beads of perspiration popped out on his forehead. He frowned but continued to play – improvising beautifully.
To the conductor’s surprise, a second string broke. And shortly thereafter, a third. Now there were three limp strings dangling from Paganini’s violin as the master performer completed the difficult composition on the one remaining string.
The audience jumped to its feet and in good Italian fashion, filled the hall with shouts and screams – “Bravo! Bravo!” As the applause died down, the violinist asked the people to sit back down. Even though they knew there was no way they could expect an encore, they quietly sank back into their seats.
He held the violin high for everyone to see. He nodded at the conductor to begin the encore and then he turned back to the crowd, and with a twinkle in his eye, he smiled and shouted – “Paganini and one string!” After that he placed the single-stringed Stradivarius beneath his chin and played the final piece on one string as the audience (and the conductor) shook their heads in silent amazement. “Paganini and one string!” And, I might add, an attitude of fortitude.
I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position.
Attitude is that “single string” that keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right – there is no barrier too high – no valley too deep – no dream too extreme – no challenge too great for me.
Yet we must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the strings that snap – dangle – and pop – the things that can’t be changed – than we do giving attention to the one string that remains – our choice of attitude.
Your attitude can make or break your family. If you consistently have a negative attitude toward your mate or children – don’t be surprised when those attitudes become the dominant tone of your environment.
But when your strings snap and you only have one left – play like crazy to produce a beautiful symphony of music that will pulsate a melody that encourages and excites others to new heights of existence.
So, when the strings of life snap and you are down to one – hold up that one string and scream out, “(Your Name) and one string!”
Old friend Robert said, “When we hear what God has done with others, it inspires us and expands our hearts with greater faith, vision, and purpose.”
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