Be Inspired!

Playing without Attachment
This past 2 months has been the most rapid personal growth period that I can remember in my life. I went from a place where I was a bit angry, way too serious, and not playing the way I truly wanted to play, to where I am now - which I can only describe as a true calmness (that I will admit I have not yet got down to an art;), within which I can still find my intensity. During this period of personal growth, I was fortunate to be reading 'Oneness with all life' by Ekhart Tolle. This powerful book lead me to a point where one day I woke up without the focus on winning or losing, but instead on being. That's when the amazing things began to happen. (READ MORE)

Ekhart literally called me on the ways my ego had taken over. He challenged me to see my ego and to identify it for what it was. So many times I let my ego get in my way: my need to proove how good I am, to be perfect, to have the last word, and all of this was affecting my ability to play free on the court. I would get defensive, hurt, angry and feel judgment, since my ego was revolting since it was not being validated. Ekhart also offered a solution for ego-ness: to lose my attachment towards results or things, and to focus on my true essence - that I am nothing in particular, nor am I defined by my results or actions . . . I am. In reading more, I began to grasp my attachment to things I owned, people I loved, and especially to winning and losing.

It's not to say that I don't care about winning, because of course I still love to win and it is definitely necessary for us to achive our goal of competing at the Olympics. It's just that the result of winning or losing doesn't seem like a huge dilemma any more. I simply focus on the action I am and enjoy my great fortune of being a gifted athlete, and the rest takes care of itself. If I'm playing free, playing my best and better than the other team, than I will win. If the other team plays better, they will win. But, win or lose, I am so caught up in being my best at any given moment, that the results really don't matter.

If I could give advice to any young athlete coming up the ranks it would be just that: to enjoy the process, to enjoy playing well, to enjoy having a hard day where everything seems difficult but somehow you still work hard and do your best for that moment. Because, in doing such the result will take care of itself. And, if at the end of the day you come up a bit short, what does that mean really? To have lost and have done your best is so much better than having won but having been stressed the whole time, without an opportunity to demonstrate your true gifts to the world. I would choose non-attachment to winning and an awesome match that I lost any day to one where I sell myself short by trying not to lose.