If I asked you do you know yourself, who amongst you would think, ‘I have no clue!’
For truth’s sake, let us assume that all of us adopt this answer.
Now, let us make an effort to know. How do we do that? Let us start by simply watching ourselves on the tennis court during competition.
How do we feel when we miss a shot? How do we feel when we hit a winner? How do we feel when the match is on the line? How do we feel hitting the ball when we really want to win the point? How do we feel hitting a second serve at break point? How do we feel playing a ‘big point’ (read my article on the Big Point Theory for an alternative view)? How do we feel when we fail? How do we feel when we succeed? There is so much to watch and learn about oneself.
In other words, what is happening within us as we compete? Most of us are aware that something feels very different, but we are not sure what. We need to be alert and really watch closely.
Everyone has patterns and tendencies and we need to recognize these patterns because they will continue to occur unconsciously until we increase awareness. We can only be free of a certain pattern, if we are aware of the pattern.
As we observe our tendencies and patterns, it is important not to be judgmental. It’s easy to see things as a problem, especially when they seem to be preventing us from achieving our goals, but the emphasis should be on growth, not the fulfillment of our goals.
The journey towards freedom lies in growth through awareness, not through success.
happy hitting!