Keep on keepin' on

This is something I learned from Coach Amazing and my mother.

Say you're learning a new piece of music on the piano (my mother's specialty) or you're working on a test or a program (Coach Amazing's specialty),  and you make a mistake. What do you do?

Do you go back to the beginning and start all over?

Do you stop and ponder the problem?

Do you roll your eyes and make a sign of disgust so everyone knows you recognize your mistake?

No. No. No.

You keep on keepin' on and work your way forward as if the mistake never happened. Put it behind you. Deal with it later.

Maybe no one will notice your error!

If you stop or start over, you're training yourself to stop when you make an error.You want to skate or play right on. Part of this is stage presence, and part of this is being able to handle imperfections.

I was thinking about this today when I was working on my waltz 8. I started on my strong side, and couldn't get it right. So I started over a couple of times, then (metaphorically) kicked myself and just did the whole pattern, even though my strong side was flawed.

Lo, and behold, my weak side pattern is close to perfect. I would have never found that out if I hadn't kept on with the pattern, even after I made a mistake.

I've got issues with one part of the waltz 8, and I'll have to address it separately, but for now, every time I do a waltz 8, I do the entire pattern regardless of any flaws. And the things I'm learning, is not only how to do a better waltz 8, but how to get myself out of bad positions without stopping. So well worth it.

Maybe I'll get good enough to do a Keepin' On Bluff.

"Why yes this is the spiral from Silver Moves."

"Why yes, this is part of my artistic program. Why do you ask?"

"And here I demonstrate a swing mohawk variation for pre-Bronze moves"

 But never this: