Tennis, anyone?

I took tennis lessons as a kid. That was, like, 30 years ago. Isn't your body supposed to remember how to do things?

Well not so for this bag of bones.

This weekend Rob took me out for a hit on a popular court. There were four guys who knew what they were doing whamming away in the court beside us. Rob had a bucket of balls and bounced them to me to practice my strokes. 7 balls went over the 20 foot fence. 6 rolled on to the court with the four tennis rats next door. Many went through that hole in my tennis racket.

I'm not a bad athlete. I have run 6 marathons. I've played on soccer and field hockey teams. I can hit a pretty mean golf shot from time to time.

But yesterday on the tennis court I felt like a goose with octopus arms: all waddle and waving limbs.

Boy oh boy this was hard on my ego. Plus there was an audience of experts whacking away with ease and grace. All my self-conscious buttons were being slammed with giant negative self-talk sledgehammers. "I'm such a loser. What a gumby. Those guys are laughing at me for sure. Rob must be so embarrassed. Why can't I hit the damn ball? It's the racket - it's a crap racket. I always have crappy gear. I'll never get this right..."

I felt tears sting my eyes and my throat tighten. I was really gearing up for a dummy spit and a sour-faced pout.

I took a moment and took a deep breath. It was unusually warm out and the air was sweet - like a Canadian summer morning. I smiled. I love Canadian summer mornings! A zillion summer memories came flooding in: canoeing on beautiful lakes, fun in the sun with best friends, and adventure after adventure. Here I was, in Australia, playing tennis with my oh-so-patient husband who gently and without judgment hit one ball after another to me so I could have a go at learning how to hit a ball. He could have been out playing his mates and getting a decent game, but he was there, with me, because he loved me and wanted to have fun. With me. I felt good again.

Isn't it amazing how your mood and perception can change in a heartbeat if you let it?

Yeah, you can do it too.

Sunset on Lake of the Woods, Ontario