I like to think I’m a tennis fan, but the reality is that I’m really not. Learning to play is on my long list of things I’d like to do. It’s also on my long list of things I haven’t gotten to. I also think it would be cool to watch tennis matches on TV and to follow the important competitions and championships, but I don’t really do those things, either. I’ve been aware that the U.S. Open was underway and I’m familiar with the big names in the game. I sort of followed coverage of this event, but only in a broad way, like knowing it was happening, but not paying attention to specific matches. So I was unaware until I woke up this morning to the news about Serena Williams winning her 18th Grand Slam victory yesterday.
It was on the front page of my local paper and a top story on the news that I watched while I got dressed. Ardent tennis fan that I am (haha!), I was overcome with excitement when I saw the photo of a triumphant Williams mid-jump with her trophy. I’m being serious here! My excitement was real. She looked so exultant- as she should! She should really be proud of herself, after all, she didn’t win this title by sitting around and wasting her time. Seeing that picture and hearing that news got me thinking about what it takes to achieve that kind of success and how great it must feel to see all that hard work and training result in victory.
We’re not all born with the same talents and abilities. So we can’t all be Serena Williams or Venus Williams or Bill Gates, for that matter, but how many of us actually make the most of our inborn talents and abilities? And what about the outside factors that come into play in realizing our full potentials? Maybe I really am a decent tennis player, but because I haven’t yet gotten myself on a court, I don’t even know. Which means that the odds of my becoming a tennis legend are ridiculously low because I don’t even play. But what if I did? What about those natural born players who are good, or very good, but don’t make playing tennis their life’s work? Maybe with the kind of relentless practice and training that the Williams sisters got, those pretty good players could have been tennis champions. It’s possible. So this is what I’ve been thinking about all day: the connection between natural ability, opportunity, and effort, and I leave you with this to ponder, as well.
