Wednesday's BOLD LAW ..." Do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten ! "....an old tennis player's tale...

What is it that makes it so difficult for us to embrace change ? Are we so comfortable with our status quo that we don't want to risk losing what we have even though we want , or we know , we could make things drastically different by making the change ? Maybe we just have to reach a point that staying where we are is more painful than the pain of making the changes ? The old saying of " Better to deal with the devil we know versus the devil we don't know ?

A personal example...

Back in college , I was a sophomore on the tennis team and was around the 5th or 6th best player and, with my current skill set, I was never going to be close to challenging the top three players. They were WAY better than me. I was a self taught player and I had taught myself to hold the racquet in such a way that it was limiting my game. In the spring a foot injury sidelined me . I could not run but , I could stand in one place and hit balls. My coach and I decided to drastically alter my grip and hit thousands of balls off a ball machine while the team practiced. It was difficult because , at first , I hit several balls over the fence ... worse than a beginner ! It was embarrassing as I rarely could hit two balls in a row into the court. Students would walk by and see me flailing away and crack , " That's our tennis team ? Boy, he sucks ! "...( Thanks whoever you were for providing the motivation ! )

Gradually though , over the next few weeks, I began to be more consistent and hit fewer and fewer balls over the fence and every once in awhile , I would be rewarded as I hit a sweet shot with power effortlessly ! That shot started out as one in every hundred shots and gradually , I began to hit that shot more and more. I lost that entire spring season to that injury and over the summer , I stayed with the new grip and I lost to players I always had previously beat as I refused to revert back to my old ways just to win one match. I was tempted at times to give it up but, I knew better results were coming . I just had to be patient.

Coming back for my junior fall, I was drastically better and beat guys I never beat because of my new grip and stroke that I had painstakingly changed. It took me to levels of play that I never would have reached without making those changes. My senior year , I became the Captain and the number 1 player on the team...and that led me to become a tennis pro for my first four years out of college.

One small change , practiced over and over , opened up a career for me that would have never happened. This taught me that we can make changes if we want them badly enough and the rewards may be better than you imagined ! 

What do you desire to change ? You can do it , whatever it may be...start today !

Contributed by KCN leader Don Aldrich