I recently started to learn the guitar.  Turns out it's a lot harder than I thought (and I already figured it'd be mighty tough).  The process is slow going thus far.  I've been hammering out some chords.  Trying to get some strumming patterns down too.  The trickiest thing at first seems to be finger placement when jumping between chords.  The whole experience of learning a new instrument is one that speaks to one of life's most humbling truths: we ain't born with much - so we've gotta learn.  As a musician, I'm a trumpet player first and foremost.  My interest in the guitar sort of grew out of wanting to teach myself more theory and to broaden my skills as a musician.  I honestly can't remember if learning the trumpet was so tough at first.  I mean, I'm not exactly a world-class horn player, but I've come a long way just working through method books and listening to my influences - most recently, Chris Botti, but a bunch of guys, really -- Dizzy, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Brown, Don Ellis.  It's hard to see how I got from point A to point S (I won't claim to have reached point Z just yet, or for a long time to come for that matter).  But I probably learned all I did very subtly, a small piece at a time, over a long period of time.  So, as I was saying, it's the "learning" component of life that humbles us the most.  It's a difficult thing to admit there's stuff you just don't know, or can't do, or can't even comprehend just yet.  But, really, when you think of it, isn't that the point when we find we're ready to grow?  As vessels designed to hold something valuable, our pride fills us with empty, false notions of what we think it is that makes us "us."  If we deceive ourselves into thinking we have all that we need, or can't bring ourselves to take a hard look at what our limitations are, or even if we're just too closed off to new experiences (because "I won't be able to learn that"...or "I don't want to try and then fail"...or "I'll never be as good as so and so..."), I suspect we miss out on a whole lot in this life.  But don't get me wrong, the point isn't to focus solely on what we lack.  It's to acknowledge our true self: to see that we are not whole or complete as we are now; but that we have buried potential - abilities and strengths that have not been harvested, not yet been refined into something beautiful.  Many of the steps I've taken since college have led me down paths that intimidated me at first, that called me out for not knowing enough, not being skilled enough.  But, you know what?  For the most part, I've pressed on anyway.  I've learned to take it for granted that I've got a long way to go.  I'm not done learning -- not by a long shot.  The guitar is just one of those signposts in the road that reinforce the point.  This process of life learning is not a divine lesson intended to put us down.  It's meant to grant us the proper perspective.  Learning is simultaneously challenging and satisfying.  Each step we take that solidifies what we've acheived unfolds new territory for us to explore.  But the thing is, as our successes reveal new challenges to come, nothing can take from us the growth and progress we've attained.  And the thrill of that kind of acheivement is precious, indeed.