“It feels so good in a dream I know in life it’s just gotta be”
When I was nine, I used to sings songs by the Mickey Mouse Club band, The Party. I dreamed of some boy singing to me. It seemed of relative vast importance to have a boyfriend. After all, most of my girl friends were already talking about having them. We used to sit around at lunch and rank who we thought were the cutest boys in school. We could only get away with this nonsense because we were silly schoolgirls. Really we hadn’t the slightest clue what we were talking about or what was truly important.
What is most important in your life? Is it your family? Does fame rank as your top priority? Is faith central to your life? Perhaps it’s a combination of many facets. Our priorities shift during each stage of our lives, but I would guess there are a few “of importance” aspects that carry a heavier load than others. Reflecting on your priorities is not an exercise in futility. Rather, it’s a great way to understand the life around you.
In tennis, it’s easy to say everybody weighs different aspects of their game on different scales of importance. Some players swear by their serve or impeccable footwork; others rely most on their stellar forehand down-the-lines or attacking serve and volley style. Many players think it’s their speed and quickness to net that crushes opponents. These concrete examples are all tennis necessities. More abstractly, what characteristics of the game matter the most? What characteristics of your personality matter most in life?
Tennis players win by being accurate. Winners place their shots where their opponents cannot successfully make returns. Accuracy ranks, but is it of most importance? What about consistency? It’s important in tennis not to yield to your opponent’s weakness. If you are a consistently hard hitter who faces a loopy lobber, do you remain consistent? Do you flake out and play to your opponent’s style? Consistency is the key to tennis in my opinion. You can be the swiftest player on the court or have the best backhand stroke. Your accuracy may be so top-notch it defies logic. Even so, the best tennis players, the players who win the most, are consistent. That’s not to say those same players are predictable. They are anything but predictable because they are so consistent. What a fascinating paradox.
In life, I argue sensibility is of importance. Sensible people make good decisions, remain calm under pressure and often generate positive results that benefit others. Sensibility is the accuracy of tennis. It’s not as important as consistency. Consistent personalities succeed. If you’re lucky enough to have this vital quality, you probably know what you want in life. You do what you have to do to get there. In other words, you’re goal-oriented and well-adjusted. Just as in tennis the player who is most consistent prevails, consistent people always know their part. So whether you rank family, fame or faith as your chief concern, make a consistent effort to reflect on what is most important. Then ask yourself why. Why does it matter? A consistent tennis player would ask questions.
Maybe schoolgirl crushes have meaning after all. You have to start somewhere…
“I’m trying to say I wanna be your number one”
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