Don't Panic.
I cannot think of one useful thing panicking accomplishes.

Practical Atheism
...having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. ~2 Tim. 3:5

Here is a link to an article that was in the Focus on the Family magazine recently. It is about Practical Atheism, or as 2 Tim 3:5 puts it, "...having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power." If you call yourself a Christian and even religiously go to church, but God makes no impact on your everyday life, how are you different from those people who call themselves atheists? Though you may formally be a Christian, practically you are an atheist. I think the article says it well, better than me at any rate.

The fool says in his heart, "There is probably no God."
Washington DC: Why believe in a god?
London: There's probably no God.

I think it is amazing how these humanists/atheists are obsessed with God. They talk about God more than the average Christian! Karl Marx said, "God is dead", but he was wrong: Karl Marx is dead, and they are still talking about God. Richard Dawkins wrote a whole book on God, and on how he doesn't exist.

Literally.
...or I'm going to beat you all up, literally!
I have a little problem that goes in and out with me: it is becoming (has become?) common to use the word 'literally' for emphasis. 'Literally' is a word that means, 'I am not speaking in metaphors, what I say is true to the word.' An example of a bad usage would be, "he came and literally chewed me out." This is wrong because if it were true it would mean the other person put some part of the subject's anatomy in his mouth and chewed on it as if it were a piece of food, which is unlikely. Here is an example of a correct usage: if someone gave you a horse, and you looked it in the mouth, the giver could say, 'Now you are literally looking a gift-horse in the mouth.'

I thought this was a relatively recent development, but I noticed that in the Scarlet Pimpernel, even Baroness Orczy misuses it. In one part it talks about how someone "literally burned the ground beneath him" on the way to Dover, which again is unlikely.

Things about life I have learned from playing the violin.
This may sound cliche, but I feel like I have learned many valuable lessons about life from playing the violin. Often I find myself saying things like, "That's just like playing the violin, you can't do it if you're tense!" So here's my list: (There will be more coming)

• Tension is bad for you.   Many many things work best when you are loose: frisbee throwing, painting, piano playing, soccer playing, golf swinging, the economy and the list goes on and on.
• Some things you can't control.  This is similar to the previous one. Sometimes you have to let go, and let things happen. This can be scary because it could all go wrong, but some times it is necessary, and this is the risk you have to take.
• Don't Panic   Panicking is such a bad thing to do. Often people panic when they are in a situation that seems difficult, or dangerous. The classic example is a swimmer panicking in shallow water and drowning. The consequences may be serious, but the solution may be very simple, and may only take a second's clear thinking to realize. Panicking keeps you from thinking about any solution for the problem. If you need to play a fast passage, panicking will only make you tight, and make you play faster, which if you are able, sounds bad, and if not, sounds worse.
• 5 minutes is a lot of time, and 1 hour is no time at all.  5 minutes is a lot of time because in only that time you can begin to cement a hard shift, you can make a difficult phone call, you can make a huge life-changing decision, you can walk a long way, etc. etc. 1 hour is no time at all because it can go so quickly. One major thing violin playing has taught me is the ability to buckle down and do one thing for an hour or more.
• Slow and steady wins the race.  This has many applications. First, if a passage is too fast to play, slow it down! If you can't do something, break it down into easy steps, and work from there. Also, rarely can you accomplish big things in one day, usually they take weeks or months of preparation. (It seems like I am contradicting myself about 5 minutes being a lot of time, but I don't think I am.)

This is a quote from the BBC by Jonathan Stevenson, on the live text for the Man. U v. Derby cup match. Brilliant!
Today is a day that history will never, ever forget. For eternity, Tuesday 20th January will be inextricably linked forever with hope, freedom and justice. A lone voice speaks out, a principled and honest man standing up for what he believes in. The world looks forward to a brighter future.
    But enough about Kaka. Anyone up for some cup football?