Tennis Chatter

If there is a lesson I learned in hitting that yellow ball coming towards me during a tennis game it is that one has the ability to block things and focus on the task at hand. I am currently tied to a very difficult task and I have been trying hard to build a wall around me for my own sanity. One would think that by this torturous exercise one is impregnable to the elements of nature. Absolute bullshit.

For the truth is the harder the concentration the more heightened the senses and the more sensitive one becomes. Life is not a 120’ x 60’ standard court size. After one steps out of it, all hell breaks loose. One can control things within the court but outside, the forces of nature will ram into you - hard. Yes it is true that one can find happiness in one’s little corner. One can also get hurt, the kind that ranges from the normal dose to the … wait, there seems to be no overdose when it comes to that in my case.

With an out-of-tennis court battle that can be quite important (this is relative, folks), sometimes you have not much choice no matter how cleverly you view the angles. So I am taking whatever hurt I can in and store it somewhere spacious or offer it to the heavens to at least unload me. At the same time I am extremely grateful for the sparks of happiness that breeze in every now and then like my candid electronic conversations with my brutally honest best friend in New York. She comes across like hot chocolate to me even though the Big Apple is in serious blanket of snow.

I just do what I have to do to finish this endeavor I have long ago started, giving it my best shot everyday of the week repeatedly, like a routine (wait, it is a routine!), that one day I just found myself buying a calendar (the kind with big numbers) to keep track of the days. Weekend? What is that? What local holiday? It was a miracle I was still persuaded by a college classmate to watch a movie. I could not even recall the movie now.

I cannot see the horizon (some people can with so much confidence it invites envy) and sometimes I miss seeing the large dewdrops in the mountains I used to climb or hearing the mini waves on the peaceful shore. These days if I am given the chance to complete my 24 hours, I can only hope that it will entitle me to another.