LivinGology

A Tennis Lesson

Early in the morning I went for my first lesson in tennis after a long pause. I hadn't played for nearly 5 years and of course it was like starting everything all over again. I had forgotten what the T-line was, everything about service; I had even forgotten to put the upper grip on my tennis racket. Anyway, I knew I wasn't going to be terrific but at the same time I felt I hadn't forgotten some basic things. It's like riding a bicycle, once you learn how to hold yourself on it, you stop thinking about it but just do it. Well, it is like this in tennis with the two basic strikes - forehand and backhand. The thing was I was quite sure I had a good forehand, while my backhand needed some improvement. It actually happened it was the opposite! 'You have a really good backhand', the trainer said, 'but we need to work on the forehand.' I was stunned. After a while after some analyzing of my own game I realized the guy was right. So, how come I have been wrong all these years about something so obvious? Is the same with other things we do as well? We think we are really good at something and proudly show what we can while the truth is that it's all in our heads? Ok, everybody overestimates themselves at certain points, but how about the other way around? Underestimating. My backhand has always been good enough for a game but instead of enjoying that for me it was a source of shame and disappointment. Perhaps there are other areas in my life that are undergoing the same dynamics. Just imagine, there might be potential skydivers, astronauts, cooks, architects etc. hiding inside us and we just don't know it. Even worse, we think we are bad at it! Why? There can be many reasons. What I know for sure is that after the game this morning I'll make a serious reevaluation of many of my assumptions about myself. Perhaps I'll need some help, like my trainer helped me today.