One Story. One Lesson. One Better Week.
I was playing pickleball recently and caught myself doing something I think we all do.
I wasn’t playing the point I was in.
I was playing the last one.
I’d missed a shot I should have made, and while the next point had already started, part of my brain was still back there.
How did I miss that?
I should have made that shot.
Meanwhile…
Here comes another ball.
Years ago, I learned a wonderfully simple technique from The Inner Game of Tennis.
Watch the ball.
Not where you want it to go.
Not where you think it’s going.
Watch what’s actually happening.
Lately, I’ve made it even simpler when I play pickleball:
Watch the spin.
When I really watch the spin of the ball, something interesting happens.
I can’t be thinking about the last point.
I can’t be worried about the score.
I can’t be wondering whether I’m going to win.
For that brief moment…
I’m right here.
And I’ve realized pickleball isn’t the only place I need that reminder.
How many conversations do we have while thinking about what we’re going to say next?
How many dinners do we eat while looking at our phones?
How many beautiful sunsets do we barely notice because we’re thinking about tomorrow?
How much of our lives do we spend somewhere other than where our feet actually are?
I’m guilty of all of it.
Which is why I love simple reminders.
I don’t need another complicated system for being present.
Sometimes I just need:
Watch the spin.
Because there’s only one place life is actually happening.
Not yesterday.
Not tomorrow.
Right here.
This Week, Try This…
Find your own version of “Watch the spin.”
Maybe it’s feeling your feet hit the ground when you walk.
Maybe it’s really listening when someone you love is talking.
Maybe it’s putting your phone down and watching the sunset for five minutes.
Whatever it is, use it to come back.
Because I’ve spent enough of my life thinking about what’s next.
These days, I’m trying to get better at noticing what’s now.