Tennis Turmoil

When I was in high school, I was the bomb at tennis. I kicked ASS. I even managed to get to state. I would have been #1 in my district if it weren't for those two pesky exchange students. (Seriously, exchange students in high school seem to come over just so they can wipe the floor with everyone else. I digress.)

The point is, tennis used to be my sport. Yesterday, I ended up playing for the first time since last May.

How ridiculous is that?

When we started playing, I started to get really depressed. It was because I was so weak. Part of the reason that I used to enjoy tennis so much was because I was powerful. I could control the ball. I could make my opponent run.

Now? I can hardly keep it in the court. This must be the same type of feeling for someone who stops running and tries to start it up again. It used to be so simple, so easy to go 5 miles. Now they're struggling with one. They don't want to try again. They don't like seeing how far they've fallen.

And oh, how the mighty have fallen. The worst part of it was my shoes. I have tennis shoes, yes... but apparently not at school. I left them at home. I wore running shoes on the court. That's as bad as the guy running on the treadmill in jeans. Maybe worse.

I don't want to be that sad person who stops doing something, tries to pick it up again and toss it after it's difficult. I need to get back into the swing of it.
...Not before I get some real tennis shoes back though. Heh.

Have you ever tried to go back to something that you hadn't done in a long time? What happened when you tried it again?

Sports to Play and Sports to Watch

There are two kinds of ways to like sports. There are the sports you like to play, and the sports you like to watch. There's also the sub category of sports you like to watch other people watching, but let's face it, that's only tennis.

The sports you like to watch and the sports you like to play can be very different, or the same. For me, they are very different indeed. The sports I like to play are tennis and running. Sure, there are times where I like to watch both of these, but they're not my favorite to watch. That would belong to football.

What is it about guys running into each other on a field that I enjoy? Beats me, but it's always been my favorite sport to watch. The rest of my family really likes to watch basketball, but I've never been a big fan. Guess I'm the odd one out.

Could you guess that there was a game tonight? Yeah, and it's still going on. Unfortunately, I've got an assignment to finish up... so no more game for me. Ah well. Tomorrow however, is going to be the start of a very exciting weekend! Woo!
(On a last note, I had my last run today. No more runs until... THE run. Crazy!)

What sport do you like to play, and what sport do you like to watch?

Getting Back to Tennis, and Following Dreams For Yourself

I remembered why I started thinking about my changes since high school in the first place. I was thinking about tennis.

When I was in high school, my sport of choice was tennis. Sure I ran, but I was actually doing something in tennis. I went to state last year, and I was a big deal.

I played tennis for the first time since October today. How depressing is that? I was definitely rusty, I can tell you that. I struggled with my follow through. My thumb began to callous again, or at least tried to. I never really thought about how that disappeared until today, when my thumb started to hurt because of it. 

I still won though. Haha.

Despite all of that talk the other day about how I'm not much for the competition of running, I love the idea of races. I was skimming through a magazine listing all sorts of runs coming up, and I was thinking about runs that would be fun. Truthfully, it's not the concept of the race that's fun, it's the experience of a race. Sometimes they're themed, occasionally people dress up... Races can be a blast! There are tons of people around who happen to find running as a source of entertainment like you do. Plus, you can get some cool things from runs. Like in the Truffle Shuffle, I got chocolate. And it was delicious.

Geez, I have got to stop talking about running so much! It's getting ridiculous.Who do I think I am?

It's Monday, so that means I have a lesson that I have learned from a fictional character. Today's lesson is sort of backwards, but it all adds up in the end. Today's lesson comes from Legally Blonde. Yes, really.

Our heroine starts out with a goal. She plans to go to Harvard Law School to reclaim the love of her ex. However, as she continues on in her journey, she discovers that going to Harvard isn't going to get her ex back. Instead, she realizes it's something she wants to do, and she wants to do the best she can.

The lesson is that you shouldn't follow dreams for others, but for yourself. Yeah, I guess that doesn't really come to light necessarily in that movie, but the idea stuck with me. I've heard sad tales of following loved ones to places, then breaking up and being left with nothing. Alone in a place they didn't even want to be in the first place.
I just know that I never am going to let someone else cancel out my dreams so I can be with them. If they really cared, they'd wait for me. Maybe it wouldn't work out, but it might also not work out even if I did cancel out my dreams for you. It might sound a little selfish, but we all need to have a little selfishness in our lives.

What is a dream you could never give up for someone else? Is there a dream you would give up?