Recently, I’ve been taking tennis lessons and they’ve been a lot of fun. Tennis…like all sports…are much harder to play than they look! Of course, as the avid thinker I am, I learned so much while playing not just about the sport but about life! I hope you enjoy my insights:
Making friends is a skill too!
I came in wanting to make a friend I could play with because you can’t play tennis alone, so I approached one of my classmates who came early like me. I think coming early is great because you get to talk with the people and get to know them a bit, and just like me they lived around the area and wanted to learn. I told them this was my first lesson, and I would probably miss way too much (true).
I later asked them if they wanted to play outside of class, and we exchanged numbers! I have a tennis buddy who lives nearby, and they’re around my skill level. It’s really cool to see how open some people are if you just talk with them, and when you have confidence and interest in them too I think it shows.
I wasn’t always good at approaching people or striking up a conversation. It’s a skill -- just like tennis. Each person is different. Not everyone will be open to talking or receiving you, but when you manage to find a genuine connection it just gets easier.
Be okay with being bad at stuff.
At my first lesson, I came in knowing I’m terrible at tennis. I wasn’t trying to look good for anyone. I just wanted to learn and I think that set me up for success! I was willing to take the shot even if I missed. I didn’t need to overthink things, and I ended up having a lot of fun and doing well at learning some of the basics.
I think so many of us, including me, expect a linear learning curve when it’s more exponential. There’s power in just being better than you were yesterday. There’s power in just accepting yourself at where you’re at and wanting to grow!
Also don't tell yourself you’ll always be bad at something! Always and never are two all-or-nothing, black and white thinking words. You won’t always be bad at XYZ. Even if you get 1% better or get another hour of practice than you had before, that matters. Your efforts, not just your results, count for something.
It’s all in the ball!
I have this bad habit of looking at the person hitting the ball rather than the ball itself, so I end up missing. I think it’s just training your focus that’s hard for me. It takes time, and it’s an effort to focus on where the ball is not where it was or where it will be.
Where you look is where you go.
In that happens from the laws of physics, it happens for your life too! It happens when you look forward to the good things God has in store for your life, and you’re open and ready to receive it. You clear out the junk. You keep your hands out. I expect God to do great things in my life, but even if I didn’t He’s going to do them.
God is always looking to the best for my life, and the best means a life where I’m close to Him and living to glorify Him. So, God has His eyes on the prize too. God isn’t looking at what other people are doing, that isn’t what I should be doing either.
I should be looking at what I need to do, going forwards or backwards, and giving it my best shot!
Having a greater purpose
Part of the reason I wanted to play tennis is because I wanted to share something special with my future children! I know I’m young, but I’ve been thinking about how I’ll be a mom more seriously. I want to be an active, involved parent -- and I want to share activities with them like sports!
My family isn’t a line of athletes honestly. My parents were really busy working hard, so that wasn’t in their cards, but God has given me a bigger dream. A dream to have a life where I provide a life of joy, fun, and bonding moments!
There’s actually some really cute “mommy and me” classes, and I have been dying to one day play with a little mini-me. I love how fearless children are. They’re so absorbent to learning and not afraid to fail. I admire children so much, and I want to be more childlike in the ways I approach the world. Of course, there are times to be mature and independent, but there are other times I should be more receptive, open, and expressive too.
Next to the court I was playing in was a small boy, maybe 3 or 4, playing with his dad. He was having so much fun running around, and he did such a great job at actually hitting the ball back. His dad was smiling with pride and having fun with his son. I want that kind of family experience!
God has given me the hopes for that one day, and it makes learning tennis that much more enjoyable because it’s a legacy I can pass to my child. Even if they don’t like tennis, I can learn to enjoy sporty moments (something I’m not used to because I am a self-proclaimed bad-at-sports gal)! I’m changing my own label. I’m changing my destiny. I’m changing the way my family has done things and for the better thanks to the opportunity God has provided for me.
Learning to appreciate my season
There is so much joy in having the time to take lessons and learn. It’s not something everyone can do when there’s bills to be paid, work to be finished, and kids to be fed. Right now, in my season, I’m able to do things like learn to play tennis freely. I’m able to just be happy and a girl in her 20s living her blessed life.
I’m able to cultivate a deeper, richer relationship with God which the rest of my life will have its foundation resting on. I’m developing the core habits of prayer, reading the Word, and spending time with God which will be a blessing for the seasons ahead.
I’m able to spend time on my blog, which you’re reading right now (thank you!), and share my life, experiences, and thoughts with so many people.
I’m able to take classes like driving lessons and tennis classes to build up important lifelong skills and hobbies. I’m able to spend this time devoted to developing myself and being a blessing to others through it.
This season of my life has been rocky, but I’ve found so many undeniable God moments. I’ve found a deeper, more purified self that came from tough situations. I’ve found God just as faithful as ever, but especially when I needed Him most. God has given me the ability to do all things, even learn tennis, for His glory!
1 Cor 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Whatever includes:
Applying to grad school
Going to therapy or counseling
Making dinner
Learning to play tennis/how to drive
Showering
Sleeping
Eating
Literally whatever you do
Closing Prayer
Dear God,
Thank You for the simple joys of life. Thank You for making sports and activities a thing because You’re a fun God. You invented fun. If anyone thinks You’re boring, counterpoint: You’re why fun exists! And games or sports are fun because there’s a structure and rules! There’s a way to play that is fair. There’s ways to play that yield desired results. In the same way, living for You is like that too. Games aren’t any fun without rules to go by first, so I pray that everyone would have fun with You.
Boring bible studies. Falling asleep during prayer but you’re not even tired. Zoning out during sermons. I pray that we would see that life with You isn’t mundane or ordinary. It’s exciting. It’s life changing. It’s dynamic, and it’s purposeful. I thank You for the happiness we get to see when we live life through Your eyes.
Love,
Grace
Bonus joke that I made myself:
Way too proud of this…
Did you know that Jesus talked about playing tennis in the Bible?
It says:
“Be like the Son of Man. He did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others.”
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