As you may know, if you’ve followed my blog for a while, I’m a diehard tennis fan (I wanted to say “diehard tennis player” there, but since I’m benched betwixt knee replacements, to my utmost regret, it’s not true at the moment).
But I am still a huge fan and in case you aren’t, I wanted to share with you a most remarkable speech (which went viral) that newly retired (due to a knee injury) tennis great Roger Federer just gave to the Dartmouth college class of 2024. He called it simply “Tennis Lessons” and applied three lessons he learned during his decades of top professional tennis competition to these young adults facing big changes in real life.
It was an ace in my book!
Roger, who recently retired at age 41 (ancient for your average tennis pro) and is a dedicated family man to four children – two sets of twins), gave three excellent points during his speech that are truly lessons each of us can apply to our own lives:
- “Effortless” is a myth. (Roger is known as one of the most graceful, elegant, and gracious players of all time; it’s often said he makes the ridiculously hard shots look easy.)
- It’s only a point. (We all miss our shots sometimes and we must put it behind us so we can fully focus and commit to the next point. The best in the world aren’t the best because they win every point, but because they learn how to lose and keep going.)
- Life is bigger than the court. (Forge a rewarding life outside your own “court” with family, friends, and causes you believe in.
I just love Roger’s perspective and I hope you will too. If you’re interested in seeing more about this remarkable athlete, catch the movie about him that has just come out called Twelve Final Days. Gonna miss you, Fed! I’m gonna try to put the link to his speech here and hope that it works (if it doesn’t I recommend you Google it – best 30 minutes you’ll spend today!).
