Last week, Sue O. and I played a tennis match and although I kept telling myself to not be bugged by the behavior of our opponents it finally got to me and I blurted out after the match ended, as we met to shake hands over the net, “You’re nice players, why do you have to resort to all those shenanigans?” Don’t quite know why that was the word that came from my lips, but after I had hoped to feel better, I really only felt more frustrated. For some reason, tennis brings out the worst in some ladies. They become petty and rude and want to win at all costs. And really, I think they forget who or what they are. Anyway, the funny thing is that as time has gone by, I think it’s quite good that I spoke my mind. Somehow, I hope they thought about what I said. But there is probably little hope of that because they acted shocked when they replied “What shenanigans?”
So tomorrow when I play tennis, my resolve is to not let other’s behavior influence my own. Why do I find that so hard? Perhaps, it’s because as a woman, I notice how others around me are feeling and I have this desire that everyone should be happy. It works that way in my family too. If one person is having a bad day, there is always this desire to fix it or help in someway. It’s this need to have all things perfect, this annoying knowledge that if one person is unhappy, it brings down the entire group. And with that said, I will introduce my 2nd Commandment which is “Remember it’s only a game”. But it encompasses more than just tennis, because there are many times during the day when I need to step back and review what is happening and if this thing that I am so worried about has an eternal consequence then it’s important but if it doesn’t then I need to put it into proper perspective.
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