Hello and good day!
My mom won the first set six two. She was up four one in the second set and it was her serve.
"Forty fifteen," she called. There was a satisfied little ring to her voice. She was happy because she was dominating me. Mom lobbed a softy over the net. It was her second serve and she wanted to make sure it stayed in. I ran up on the ball and could see that I had forehand winners available in either direction.
I also had the opportunity for a dropshot. I opted for the dropshot and stuck my racket out delicately giving the ball just a touch of backspin. Yhe ball came off my racket and floated towards the net. Mom sprinted forward but there was no way she could get there on time. She wasn't a speedster.
If I'd have hit the ball just an inch higher, I would have won the point and maybe salvaged the game. Instead, the ball hit the top of the net and bounced back down on my side of the court.
Mom stopped her run and called out. "Game. Five one." That little ring in her voice was more noticeable than ever. It was my serve and I figured I might as well lay down and get the thing over with. It had been an embarrassing outing.
Mom had me when she was 38 years old. She was an older mother. i was a 28-year-old man when we played the game I am describing. And I am a naturally good athlete. I had no business losing a game of tennis to my 66-year-old mother. Yet it happened all the time.
She played several times per week and still does. I played once or twice per month. Now I almost never play. On top of practicing more, mom is a cutthroat competitor. On the court, she wears you down with consistency and takes pleasure in watching you commit unforced errors. Unforced errors play terrible mind games with you and sap you of your confidence.
As such, I generally walked off the court with my self-esteem as a tennis player completely melted away. I stood on the line bouncing the ball with my hand, preparing to serve. I was all set to lose this game, the set, and therefor the match, when something spoke to me from deep within my psyche.
"Not today mom," it said. When I heard that, in an instant, I knew I could come back and win. I didn't know for sure in that moment whether I'd actually make the comeback.That would depend on how hard I was willing to play.
But I knew I could win. It was possible. I had an intuition about it. I served and won the point. "Not today mom." I won the game.
"Not today mom." I repeated it to myself over and over again as a rallying cry. I was glaring at my mom across the court. "NOT TODAY MOM," I thought to myself. I fought back and won the set seven five.
Mom is fierce and she didn't go down easy. The final set went to tie break. "Not today mom." I wouldn't be denied. I won the tie break and the match.
Lest you think I am bragging about beating my 66-year-old mom in a game of tennis when I was 28, please allow me to assure you that I am making a different point.
There are certain times in life, during sporting events, in business, on the verge of break ups, during battles with cancer, when an intuition grabs you. Even though the odds are completely stacked up against you, somehow it becomes very clear that if you fight, you will prevail.
Many times, when a person receives this call, they ignore it because it seems too farfetched. The odds seem too long. The chances, too slim. You hear the call, but you tamp it down.
]Sometimes you don't get the call at all. You get your butt whipped without any chance for a comeback.
But sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes you get the call, and you believe. You heed the call. You fight the fight, and you win. I now believe that whenever a person gets that flash of insight, they should try to make a comeback.
You shouldn't ignore the call. You're getting it for a reason. Your unconscious mind knows something that your conscious mind isn't privy to. When you get the call, it's time to fight.
Here is what got me thinking about this.
Yesterday, I had a long, wonderful conversation with two customers who come frequently to our chocolate shop. They are a married couple. The husband beat lymphoma against all odds and is now in remission. The conversation was very deep, and I am still processing it.
However, one part of the story revealed its lesson most quickly.The cancer had metastasized into my friend's organs, resulting in organ failure. His kidneys stopped working and before he could go on dialysis, he gained about forty pounds of water weight. He was lying in bed one night when he tried to sit up but couldn't. When he attempted to sit the water in his lungs rose up and he felt himself drowning.
All he could do was lay in bed. His liver had stopped working as well. The doctors shot him straight. He didn't have much longer to live. Yet that night, while he was lying in bed under all that water weight, he got the call.
"For some reason, a message came to me," he said.
I was leaning up against a wall in front of a bank listening to my friend speak. He was sitting on a wooden bench in front of the bank telling me the story. His lovely wife was sitting next to him.
"They're gonna have to kill me," he said. He looked over at me, his eyes watering. "The cancer wasn't taking me. Not then. If I was going to die, somebody was going to have to kill me," he said. That was the message he received over and over and it became a deep-seated conviction.
Nothing magical happened after that. He fought day in and day out. There were complications and miscues and unexpected turns for the worse.But through it all, he kept hearing the message.
"They're gonna have to kill me."
Something other than cancer would have to take his life. The fight against cancer wasn't a fight he was going to lose. He knew that if he fought, he would win. And now I'm lucky enough to know him and his wonderful wife. I get to see them regularly and learn from their experiences.
I leave you with this reminder.
A person doesn't always get the call. Sometimes you are destined for a butt kicking and there is no way out. But sometimes, every once in a while, you are meant to make a comeback. If you hear the message, you are meant to win, so long as you fight the fight.
Don't ignore the call when it comes.
Thank you so much for your time today.
I hope that you have a truly blessed day!
