Tennis

The results are in. The people have spoken (all four of you) and you have decided that tennis shall be the next new skill that I learn. 

Tennis. What a great game. I have always wanted to play. Let me clarify that, I have always wanted to play well. I have technically played before.  I have hit a ball around with friends or with my brother from time to time and enjoyed myself immensely. Not being able to serve or serve-receive, however,  has severely limited my game. Instead of just wishing that I would miraculously get better, I decided to do something about it. So today I had my first tennis lesson. 

I walked into the tennis club not knowing what to expect. My first thought was that I hoped I would have a hunk of a hottie tennis instructor. Then along comes Sean. I don't know that I would say he was a hunk, but he was kind of cute.  More importantly, however, he was very nice and VERY patient. I had no idea how little I knew about the basics of tennis. He changed my grip so that instead of having an eastern grip I now have more of a western grip?? Huh? All I know is that when you suddenly have to start holding the tennis racket differently (after years of holding it one way) you suddenly feel like it is the first time you have ever held a racket. And I don't mean that in a good way- like a "suddenly I know how to hold the racket and this all makes sense!" kind of way. I mean it more in the "holding the racket like this and trying to swing it makes me look like I never really mastered my basic motor skills" sort of way. 

I realized that one little hour lesson was not going to turn me into the professional player that I long to be. So more lessons are forthcoming. As I left the club this afternoon one thought kept going through my head... why didn't I take this up in high school when I could have been taught for free!?!

Better late than never. One of the things that motivated me to take up tennis was a client of mine. This client is around forty years old and plays tennis competitively (almost every weekend.) I assumed that she had grown up playing tennis and I was jealous that I hadn't grown up playing tennis. It turns out that she only decided to start playing tennis around four years ago. She, like myself, had not grown up playing tennis. Who knew? Another client had always wanted to play the cello, so when she was thirty-five she just signed up for lessons. 

I always hear about people who say how much they regret that they didn't stick with their piano lessons when they were a kid and how they wish they knew how to play now. Well, ya know what? It's not too late! You can still do it. You life doesn't have to end when you hit twenty-five or when you have kids. Spoken as only a person without kids can speak! I'm not saying it is easy, I am saying it is doable. 

And it's not easy. I am used to being good at things. I play soccer and volleyball weekly and while I am not outstanding, I am good. I have all the skills down. (Well, apart from serving, but we won't go there.) I sit here typing at my computer, doing easily 45 words a minute and I don't even have to think about it. But there was a time when I DID have to think about it. I used to hunt and peck. But I took lessons. And I learned. And I practiced. And I practiced.  And I practiced. It is okay to be bad at things when you are younger. It is expected. But as we become adults, it is hard to accept that we aren't automatically good at things. My tennis lesson today was pretty humbling. 

Humbling... but awesome! I can't wait for my next one. So to all of you people out there who have hidden dreams and desires tucked away on the shelves somewhere, it is time to take them down, dust them off, put away your pride and your excuses and go do that thing you always wanted to do!