Happy Fun Cog

Competitive sports, and team sports in particular, are important for so many reasons. I played little league baseball and other school sports through high school. But it's funny how much psychology and family influence your understandings of yourself. I was and am a very good athlete compared to the vast majority of people out there.

But because my brother was an athletic prodigy, the family assumption was always that I was unathletic. This was drilled into me over many years. I developed a complacency about sports, because, even though I was good at them, I was never encouraged because I was the unathletic one. There couldn't possibly be two athletic sons in the household. I rarely made much effort after I was about seven or eight, because it didn't seem worth it. I played but never with the amount of passion required to be really good. I played in a detached way. I would never live up to the standards set by my brother so why bother?

But having returned to sports -- tennis in this case -- after so many years and having distanced myself somewhat from those childhood notions, I'm constantly surprised by how much more natural gift I have than others I play with. I learn and improve more quickly, my reflexes are better, I am quicker and more agile, and I have higher endurance than most around me.

These natural characteristics were always there, and what I lacked before I am developing now, the pychological understanding that I can put my heart into competition, that I can get good, that the investment of effort and soul is worthwhile.

As for the instrument I would love to have been offered music lessons as a child but I wasn't so I guess that one cuts both ways.

My approach with my child is going to be (and aready is) to expose him to everything and encourage him in whatever he likes.