Squashed

I would recommend that everyone gets continuous coaching in an activity they love. In my case it’s squash.

I have every shot in the squash handbook (almost) and move very well around the court, and yet in terms of people who play squash well (and all the time) I am a pretty average player. This is partially because I have just taken it up again after a 10 year break and also because I don’t spend the hours on the court that some do. But another problem I have always had is in my mind – if I am not feeling good in the head, and I often I don’t even realise it, then my squash goes to pot. And then I get depressed about it, then sort of do an internal dummy spit, and things get worse.

I am determined to crack this issue this time around, on the squash court. I reckon that if I can crack this on the court then I can crack it in real life. Because my fear is that I am doing this in real life without even realising it. In squash its obvious what is going on – you lose three games in a row and only get 2 or 3 points. In real life the score card is pretty bloody obscure.

One thing I have decided to do is not to let certain people in my life behave badly without me saying something. Whereas previously I have always played the peace-maker or the “parent” in these relationships, and let these people get away with their self-centred madness in the interests of the “long game”, I am now committed to telling them what I feel at the time despite my dislike of conflict. The truth is that self-centred people will abuse your goodwill, no matter what your reason is for giving it, and then take more where they can.

The scorecard is in!