Getting Back in the Game

I walked off the court with annoyance after a tennis practice. And the expression on my face must have revealed that emotion because Van, the tennis pro, looked at me and said What’s going on? So I told him: I do not want to play with that woman ever again. Her incessant point analysis throws me off my game.

Van shook his head.

The recent storm was traumatic. I was stuck in Florida when it hit and was unable to fly home.

Orchestrating the safety of those I love was challenging to say the least from a remote location. And when I finally was able to touch down on the one open runway at LaGuardia the Thursday after the storm, I was met with no electricity, a gas shortage, no phone and no internet.

As a consequence my normal day to day activities either came to a screeching halt or required more time than it would have taken had all the creature comforts been in my life. Among the things that I was distracted from was my writing. Finding the time to sit down was one issue. Another was a lack of focus—I was too concerned with gas usage and daily shopping and a lack of refrigeration to have “thoughts.” And while I did have a laptop I needed to save the battery for other things like watching DVD’s at night to prevent my husband and I from hours of boredom.

The storm threw me off.

But I got a wake-up call. My girlfriend Elissa texted me and said When are you going to write your blog again? You have too many excuses and I am in withdrawal.

She was absolutely correct.

I needed to alter my game. I needed to write again.

And Van told me The fact that that woman annoys you is exactly why you should play with her again. You need to figure out how to play your game despite the distraction. It will make you a better player and an even more formidable opponent.

Adversity elevates strategy. And an elevated strategy yields success. Or better put:  that which does not kill you makes you stronger. I just hope that that which does not kill you, just doesn’t kill you.