Losing

I'm 45 years old, in very good shape and lost to a guy in my tennis league who could be old enough to be my father (maybe). I let my ego driven mind get in the way. Instead of just being present to the task at hand, I let thoughts creep into my head like "you can relax a little now, you're ahead" and "how did you blow that lead?" and "I can't believe this guy is on the verge of winning - I'm so much better than he is!" Needless to say, it is hard to achieve peak or even near-peak performance with all of that chatter racing around inside your head.

Peace starts with making peace with yourself. When the match was over, I congratulated my oponent and genuinely told him he played a great match. On my drive home, I thought about how grateful I am to have the ability and fortune to play the game of tennis, and how much I appreciated the fact that my employer can allow me to leave work early like I did today to squeeze this rescheduled league match in. And I repeated a couple of my favorite affirmations including "I love you Scott" and "I approve of you Scott". Feeling at peace with myself, I am able to be at peace with my family, my neighbors and my brothers and sisters around the world.