a fine life...

I was talking with my tennis coach the other day about a match I'd played the day before. He asked me how it went. I went into an analysis of where my game had fallen apart. A minute into it, he stopped me. OK, I get you did a lot of things wrong, he said. So, tell me. What are the top ten things you should've kept in mind while you were playing?

I thought it was a trick question, but he looked so serious that after a moment, I started listing them off. But it was one of those times when you don't say them as if you know for sure. No, I was doing that thing where you send each one out a little softly just to see if you're in the ballpark. He listened patiently the whole time, simply waiting for me to finish.

When I hit the last one, I stopped. He looked at me, with a hint of a smile. That's it? he said. Those are your top ten? Yes, I said.

Well, he said, that's amazing. I don't think I would've been able to put one foot in front of the other. 

I shook my head, not quite understanding what he was saying. What do you mean? I said.

No one can keep more than six things in their head at once. It just not possible. he said. In tennis, with everything else going on, it's hard to keep more than three. The real reason the pros are so good is they get it down to one...

Of course, I wanted to know that one thing. Here's what he said: the people you want to play are all going to have solid games. Good strokes. Good strategies. Good execution. You have no control over what they're going to do. All you have is you & the moment & how're you going to be in that. So, how amazed can you be just letting your body hit that ball? Every. Single. Time, he said.

You're going to forget, he said. You're going to think of what you're having for dinner. How your little toe hurts. How you tweaked that muscle in your back & you hope it won't stiffen up. Something's going to come up. But if you remember to be amazed about what happens when you just watch the ball & let your body hit it, if you remember more than you forget, you'll be fine...

It's funny, but until that moment, I'd never made the leap from Secret #8 to the way I'm learning to play tennis again. It's so easy to forget the one thing that truly matters in every moment. Whatever that is for you. By the feel of a fast moving ball hitting perfectly in the center of a racket. By the light on the snow covered trees as I drove home. By the warmth of Fia sitting beside me on the couch. By the laughter that bubbles up in me as I write this...

Remember the one thing that consistently amazes you. Remember it more than you forget. You'll be fine...

with love, b

P.S. 'secret #8'' is one of my favorites of the Secrets collection, a group of eight linocuts. Those first eight secrets were the start of the book 'Bring Your Life Back to Life'. Click here to see Secret #8 as a 12x12 wood panel, or the whole set of Secrets prints. (since they only come as a set...)