Reinvent your game

I have been a great fan of Roger Federer throughout his journey.. more because of his affable nature, his tendency to go with the artistry of tennis rather than the brute force, his ability to mould his play with age and still retain the edge, his conduct as a human being and so many more reasons... 

In the last few years, I have felt he was getting dominated by Novak and Rafa to a good extent. Barring a few exceptions, it always looked as if they were too good for him and one could understand that with his age difference, perhaps he was naturally coming out second best most of the times. Having said that, he still managed to beat the younger players with relative ease, reconfirming that he along with Nadal and Novak are there amongst the greatest names of all times in the annals of tennis history. 

However the last couple of years, following Roger has been a revelation. I am not a fan of statistics as they tend to reduce a man to just numbers which is anyways unfair. But if you look at the man, he seems to have reinvented himself. Anybody who has watched the Wimbledon Finals this year would have been heartbroken(except perhaps the Djoker’s family) as Roger was the sentimental favourite, but perhaps if hurt more because on that day Roger was the better player - more aggressive, more winners, more net points .... when he said at the end that ‘this was a massive opportunity lost’ it could not have been put in better words.

But again , anybody who follows him closely would see that this Roger was different from the Roger of the recent past - he was a new man, playing at a level which at his age, looks almost magical.

Therein lie important life lessons that we can take for ourselves- we, who find ourselves jaded and tired at times in the relentless pursuit of corporate success... whatever it means to each of us, and trying most of the times to catch up with the pace that life seems to be setting everyday for us !

Here is my take on the great man - some observations which have been such a source of inspiration for me in the last few months and more so after the 2019 Wimbledon final. And some observations which I want to share as I believe these can give a new direction to many of us who are mere mortals engaged in the battle of ‘survival of the fittest’, right from the time the fastest sperm led to our conception. (Sometimes I feel we are just running everyday to prove Darwin right !!)

1. With age, we need to think differently - meaning we can still keep on doing the same thing, but be smart enough to pace things as per our strengths and chose our battles wisely. By being smart, we can still be at our best, but in situations and fights that we chose for ourselves to be in. We need to give up some fights and focus on our strengths. Roger decided to leave out clay from his plans as he realised that apart from that not being his best chance, it takes out a lot and weakens him physically and hence his chances on other surfaces which are his strength, like Wimbledon.

2. Connect with our inner selves - He took a break sometime back just to get in touch with himself - whether he still enjoys tennis, whether he still belongs at the top, whether he should just hang up and enjoy being a dad... (anybody worried about how he will support his family sitting at home, huh ?) Most of us would have asked ourselves one of these questions at some critical juncture of our lives - what are we doing and why ? Is it worth it ? Am I really enjoying this ? What next ? It is absolutely important to face these questions when they come up. We keep deferring... and deferring... till one day we realise life has passed us by. If we have to reinvent ourselves, we will have to find answers to these questions. We have to be brutally honest with ourselves. Seek help if necessary, find a mentor or a guru who can help and guide, but get near those answers.

Introspection always helps and therefore it is indispensable to the human spirit in it’s efforts to rejuvenate itself !

3. Be at peace with ourselves ! (Post the introspection above) Roger seems to be at peace with himself, having accepted the fact that he has achieved a lot in Tennis, probably everything there that matters to him. (He has said that is as many words.)That takes off a whole lot of pressure on the mind and body, allowing one to enjoy whatever they have chosen to do. Trick is that this inner peace rejuvenates the mind and the body, giving the person a renewed faith which then turns the ‘burden’ of performing and proving into a ‘challenge’ to push oneself to see how far one can go.

Easier said than done for most of us for whom that sense of ‘achievement’ remains elusive for a long long time ... and many a times forever ! However we need to have the courage to look at the mirror when we feel we are tiring, and come to terms with the fact that life is more about the journeys we make between multiple destinations and less about the destinations themselves. This is essential to help us grow out of the fascination for ‘posts’, ‘designations’, 7 figures salaries and 8 figure penthouses !! The journey to inner peace starts with this realisation and in many cases, leads the individuals out of their mid-life blues with a greater sense of inner peace.

My take - Roger has always loved the game and his victories but he started enjoying the journey and took the pressure off himself of trying to reach the destination at all costs. That was still to be reached, but that was not the only thing now... it was more of a journey to test his own limits, to believe that he can reach the destination and at the same time be at peace with the possibility of any outcome. That gives him so much more in terms of confidence and ability, that gives him the emotional control to handle such devastating losses with control and peace. The way he played that day in the Wimbledon finals(2019) on Centre court was awesome .. I had started believing in him again after last year’s Australian Open Final when he beat Nadal, but that final in Wimbledon was a full circle for me - I now believe that he has probably worked himself back to his peak abilities and confidence, playing with the aggressiveness of a teenager and coming to the nets so confidently... it almost was unbelievable, when you know that he was 6 years elder to his opponent in a sport that is more unforgiving on the body with each year of existence added !!

Looking at his journey, we should realise that our lives are what we make them out to be and not what somebody else says or thinks. It is never too late in life to change, but the earlier the better, especially when the mirror starts asking more questions of you every day. The realization is the easy part; to convert the same into action timely is the key. It is here that life examples of such remarkable personalities like Roger Federer are an inspiration and a blessing.

You owe it to yourself, and to no one else in this world, to enjoy the new 'You' ? 

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