I am taking Tennis Lessons, thanks to a lovely Christmas gift, and I love Tennis!  I have learned a lot, too,  and not just about Tennis!  So here are… 

Life Lessons and Organizing Tips my Tennis Lessons have taught me (and how you can learn from them, too)

1. “Follow-through is critical to success”. 
   • When you swing a tennis racquet, much of the force that carries the ball over the net comes from using the momentum from the entire swing, the entire range of motion.
   • Follow-though is critical to success in Life and organizing, too! 
2. “Approach the ball the same way every time, regardless of where it comes from.”
   • Good habits make everything work better
3. “Sometimes an ugly (incorrect or awkward) swing still gets the ball over the net.”
   • This tells us that we don’t need to be perfect to get the job done. 
4. “A loose grip on the racquet is better than a tight grip”. 
   • A looser grip, or letting go of perfectionism, allows for flexibility in tennis and in life.
5. “Using new muscles gets easier over time”.
   • My forearm was really sore after my first two lessons, but now even more strenuous lessons don’t bother me at all.  So if we use our “organizing” muscles regularly, that will get easier, too!
6. We can all learn new skills, at any time in our life.
   • In the context of Life and organizing, this is reassuring and motivating.  We can learn to do almost anything, if we try and if we practice!
7. New is fun and empowering!
   • Exposure to new things and ideas and people help us to think in new ways about our life.
   • I never thought about taking Tennis lessons, but my wise and wonderful hubby signed me up as a Christmas present.  And I love it!  And learning these new skills reminds me how great it feels to face and conquer new challenges.  We don’t know if we can do a thing until we try, and then we know we can do anything!
8. Making a Healthy Choice feels great!
   • I have learned things from the wonderful people in my class, too!  There is the instructor and just three of us in the class, me and two life-long friends.  These two friends used to meet once a week for breakfast, and were finding that the time spent together while eating was not helping their health and wellness!  So they chose to swap out their huge breakfast once a week for tennis lessons instead.
   • I love that!  The time and money spent are about the same, and they are keeping the tradition, the appointment with a friend.  But they chose to make it a new and healthy habit, too.    

     So, if you want to take up tennis, great – I’ll see you on Tuesday mornings!  But you can learn Life Lessons without ever picking up a racquet.  And maybe trying something new can change your outlook on life, too!