What Goes Around
Anyhow, the end of school and Shrenik’s wedding brought me a whole new series of highs and not many, if any, lows.
I’ll begin at the most important moment. Sometime during Shrenik’s wedding, I decided that I was done having regrets. No, I’m not done thinking and rethinking every decision I’ll make (my fatal flaw), but I’m done pondering the consequences. The effects. I make a decision knowing the consequences, but knowing that, I don’t have to worry about those consequences. Each decision will have a backlash, but it’s how I deal with that backlash that will make me better than the rest.
Is there a practical application to this? Probably not. But just think about it. If we look over our shoulder for too long during the years of our life, we’ll spend more time looking backwards than looking forwards. You can learn from your mistakes, but don’t let the memory of you making those mistakes become a part of you.
Maybe there is one example. Yesterday, during the student-faculty basketball game, I missed a whole bunch of shots (1 for 9 if I remember accurately), probably screamed like a small child for each rebound (yes, even the uncontested ones) I got, and for one fleeting moment, I thought, “Did I create a bad impression with the faculty?” But after that, I brushed that thought aside, because it does not matter if I did or not. The bottom line is that even though the students got our asses kicked (75 - 48), I tried my best, didn’t (overly) foul any faculty members in the process, and I set the whole game up, so I should take whatever little credit I deserve for getting people to interact outside of their labs. And if any faculty (or students) think less of me for any ’strange’ actions I may have done on the court, good for them.
I can take solace in the fact that I didn’t really ‘think’ about how I was acting on the court. You know the times when you think, ‘Am I acting like myself/naturally?’ i.e. an interview, an introduction to someone more important than you, etc.
But yesterday was not like that. I was wholly myself on the court. Simply put, (A) I played with a ton of heart, (B) I played with whatever little athletic talent I have, and (C) I put the whole game together. Yah…that’s who I am…someone who likes to bring people together in friendly, yet, competitive situations, despite my inability to perform well in these events.
—
For those not keeping score at home, that’s me 1, regrets 0.
