I have been a guitar player for the last 22 or more years. It was something I can remember always wanting to do.

And I have changed primary instruments after over two decades.

I am a drummer now, and I am loving it.

It’s making me hear music differently, feel it in new ways, and appreciate nuances that I had previously missed because I was focused on the guitar parts of the songs.

I have a whole list of songs that are exceedingly familiar to me, that are now somewhat alien because of a distinct rhythm or beat that is more than a simple 4/4 beat. (Most simple rock and pop songs are in this type of 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 beat)

My ears have been opened to a new way of hearing.

Does that mean I am thinking in different ways?

I’d say so. I used to involuntarily play air guitar when a favorite song came on the radio. (Don’t judge, you’ve done it too!) Now I air drum.

Yeah, I know, big change! But really, isn’t it? To alter one’s involuntary behavior slightly, isn’t that a pretty big mental shift?

When is the last time you made a voluntary change that was a pretty large part of who you are? I have identified as a guitar player for longer than I have identified as someone who could drive a car. It’s kind of liberating, knowing that we are not actually stuck in the ruts we think we have made so deep we can’t see out of them.

So, take another look at where you find yourself. Those walls that have been holding you back, just might be made of cardboard instead of brick after all.

Ben Cox is the host of “Ben Cox in the Morning” weekday mornings from 6 to 9 on KQBZ, 96.9 FM in Brownwood Texas. He is the in-stadium voice of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football team and is also a mobile DJ for weddings, parties and the like, as well as live performance with his wedding/party band, The Robert Paulson Trio. He can be contacted via this website.

The thoughts and comments reflected in this column are those of the writer alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of Wendlee Broadcasting, or its affiliates.