Knowing myself through tennis

Started tennis lessons with le wife a while ago. You think more deeply when learning a new sport at a relatively mature age.

I realise that my inner self is frantic/fearful most of the time. How do I know that? One of the most important things in tennis is anticipating the bounce of the ball. I tend to rush towards the ball as fast as I can, driven by the fear that I will be too far away to hit it. All too often, I end up too close to the ball, such that I cannot extend my arm. At other times, I am rushing and adjusting my feet so much that I have not steadied myself before hitting. What results is a weak return.

In contrast, when I remind myself to calm down, my feet are at least firmly planted on the ground when I hit the ball, giving me a good base to swing from. When I calm down, I can focus on the ball better, and take the most economical movement to hit the ball.

There are so many niggling things in daily life. But at this moment of writing, I am calm and it is pretty cathartic actually.