Day 2

www.51in51days.blogspot.com is a blog about the journey of getting my life back 

on track in the 51 days leading up to my 51st birthday on January 13, 2013.

Hello,

I was figuring out what to blog about today for Day 2, when at around 6:30am my dog Lilly decided that she needed to go for a walk immediately or all hell would break loose. So I stopped pondering my blog, and reluctantly put a heavy coat over my pajamas, and suited her up with her leather leash.  I'm thinking I'll just take her downstairs for a quick tinkle and be back up in the cozy condo in a flash. 

Many thanks to my adorable rescue dog Lilly.

Well my dog Lilly was having none of that. Though it was freezing, (44° to be exact) she pulled me as hard as she could across the street to our very nice neighborhood park. As I was crossing the street I could hear the sound of tennis balls. Obviously someone had gotten up very early on a cold Sunday morning to play tennis. And it got me thinking. That used to be me! From the time I was around 13 to 16 I would get up at 5am, be on the courts from 6am to 8am before any of my high school classes would even begin. I was so dedicated when I was young. I didn't have to get up that early, but I wouldn't think of it any other way. I look at myself now, and I'm so very lazy and lethargic. What's happened to me over the decades? I mentioned in Day 1 of my blog that age indisputably happens physiologically. Yes, so very true. However this change I'm referring to, well this is not physical, it's definitely emotional. My drive to get up and play tennis, or to run, (used to run 10ks) do sit ups, push ups, etc, has completely dissipated to being non existent.  I have not really exercised in the past 6 years.

That is when I quit playing tennis all together. I was 44. That is when all exercise ceased to exist for me. ( I will address the circumstances in another blog.) When I was young, I was very active. Probably like most kids. I would spend 12 hours in the pool and look at my mother off on the side laying on a chaise lounge tanning herself. I remember actually saying to myself around 10 years old, "I'm never going to be like my mother. I'm always going to play in the pool for 12 hours." Fast forward to now;  I can't even stay in the pool for 12 minutes if it's not heated. But let's go back to the tennis. Tennis was my life. I loved the game ever since I remember seeing people play for the first time when I was 8 years old.  My dad was working in Las Vegas for a week, so they put us all up in a hotel. We passed by some courts and I went insane in the car. I said, "Mommy, what is that? I want to play. I need to play." That very day my mother bought me a tennis racquet and my father paid for tennis lessons at the now sadly torn down Sands Hotel. I took tennis lessons every day for a week and loved ever minute of my instruction. It was the highlight of my 1970 Vegas vacation.

The Sands Hotel about a decade before I first visited in 1970.

I didn't really start playing regularly for another 4 years, but then I played almost every day from the time I was 12 to 22. I loved the game, and I was pretty good. Not great, but I had some talent and some success. Plus it gave me the perfect excuse to get out of the house, and stay out for long periods of time on the weekends and weeknights. You see, my home life was not the happiest, so it gave me a great out. But I loved the game too. I loved the feel of striking the ball. It was just so fun. But I have not played for the last 6 years. So, back to me crossing the street this morning, and hearing the sound of the tennis balls. I thought to myself, I was so different when I was young. At 15 I would have been up at the crack of dawn. So I thought, maybe if I started playing again, getting up early like I used to, it would rekindle that passion for life I had when I was young, which somehow I've totally lost along the way.  

Me, on the far right, in 1979 when I was 17, with the BHHS tennis team.

As I walked Lilly past the courts, I see a guy just practicing his serve by himself. I watch him carefully. I notice he's got a pretty good service motion. He seems to know what he's doing to a fair degree. I walk past again, and as I approach him, I stop and speak. "Hey, you ever need anyone to hit with? He hems and haws. I say, "I used to play college tennis." He perks up. "Really?" "Yes." I say proudly. "I haven't played in a few years, but it's like riding a bike." I say to reassure him. He says, "Let's exchange numbers, I don't have anyone to hit with." So, almost as quickly as my thought went through my head that I should play tennis early in the morning just like I did as a kid, I have a tentative date to hit with John next Saturday morning at 7am.  Boy, that was a very quick manifestation.

So in one fell swoop, I took a small step that may make a monumental impact on my life. This is what I was hoping the blog would assist me in. Helping me to stay motivated and focused to uplift my body, mind and spirit for 51 days. What I did this morning was so simple, just a date to play tennis. But this small feat may be grand in the scheme of things.  My lack of desire to play for the past 6 years has more to do with an emotional hurt  that needs to be healed than anything else, however at least part of the remedy, playing again, will undoubtedly nourish my soul and aid in getting me back in shape. It will be a trifecta win, mind, body and spirit.  Tennis was so much a part of my young life. Tennis will be eternally tied to my childhood. But maybe if I start playing again I can get back some of my zest for life that I had when I was a child. Or even the enthusiasm I had in my mid 40s that I had until I stopped playing. Because on some level, when you have the desire to get up at 5am and be on the cold courts at 6am, you are saying yes to life. Not just tennis. When I was young I said yes to life all the time. At 50 I say no more often than not.

Next Saturday morning at 7am, I will be saying yes to life, even though it will look like I'm just playing tennis.

Until tomorrow and Day 3 of my blog....

Elissa is a freelance writer & graphic designer somewhere in Los Angeles.