What a lesson I learned last night.
I've joined a USTA Summer League -- kind of a twist on the SUMCCWHHTPITMOTW League (and by now you should know what that stands for). We travel around the region and play other women with the goal of winning our region and going on to districts, states and even nationals.
So last night my partner and I got out to warm up and I quickly realize that even though this league is supposed to be made up of rated and ranked players, one of the women we are playing as quite possibly never held a tennis racquet before in her life. No, seriously. She could barely make string contact with the ball. And her serve? I cannot even call it a serve.
But here's the thing: we lost.
Because watching her dink the ball and mishit the ball just to have it go over the net enraged me to the point of possible insanity. I had a mental meltdown. And learned something about myself: confidence can be a dangerous thing.
It's the same with weight loss I think. One of my big issues has always been: I kind of rather like me. So while you hear of the thin women who look in the mirror and see a heavy person, I look in the mirror and thing "I'm great!" When, really, I should be thinking "I need to work hard so I can be the best I can be." Just like playing the horrid player. Instead of thinking, "I will focus on making smart, sensible choices," like good ball placement or not overhitting, I thought "Durn it! no way should she win even a point!" and finally, "Oh screw this!" It lost me the match.
And it's gained me some weight in the past. I might think I"m great, but if I face an odd situation and it does not go as I expect from the start, I give up and lose control.
I need to change that. I don't know if I ever want to play that woman again. It wasn't even fun. It wasn't what I call tennis. But as tennis always does, it taught me a lesson. Be realistic. Face your possible faults. And don't always assume you're automatically a winner.
More laughs next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment