The Magic

Every time I step onto a tennis court is a good day, but sometimes, when you have so many good days, you lose the magic. This mindset is the danger zone because you lose the spark when you begin to take the things you love for granted. And once the spark is gone, the thing you love is just a thing. 

I want two things from my tennis journey.

I want to be the best tennis player I can be, and I never want to lose that childlike magic that comes with the journey.

When I play tennis, I step away from the world and enter a different reality, like when Ash Ketchum leaves Pallet Town for the first time to embark on a quest to be the best Pokemon trainer in the world.

But I see some guys entering a dungy sports complex to get away from their wives for a while. They're angry when they miss a volley or double-fault.

They yell at themselves, and I get it because when I miss a volley, sometimes my mind yells at me. But what my mind doesn't understand in the moment is that we're having fun. We're growing and getting better and playing a game we love. The mind just wants to win in that moment, but the purpose is bigger than that.

Sometimes, though, the mind is quiet, like a child on a road trip to Disney World. He sits there and trusts that the journey will end on the little boat ride where all the toys sing in different languages.

The mind surrenders to the moment, and the moment rewards us for being in it.