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Something happened last night that really set me back on my heels. About six weeks ago I injured my elbow. Prior to my injury I was doing weights three times a week, martial arts twice and playing competition squash.

The accident was absolutely stupid. I was playing squash and collided with a wall. I struck it with my elbow. The wall didn’t budge. A couple of days later I played three competition matches in a row. At the end of the night I couldn’t even hold a racquet. Next day the elbow was up twice the size of the other one.

Since that time I have done no martial arts, no gym, except some aerobic work and no squash. Apart from a couple of occasions I tried to reach myself to play squash left handed. It was ugly. About the heaviest thing I lifted was a fork.

My treatment was just about complete and I started very light weights and I decided to play squash last night. (The team was short) I went on the court and very gingerly hit the ball a few times in the warmup. My opponent looked to be a very good player. Normally I am a fierce competitor and have, on occasions, ‘lost it’ as emotion got the better of me in my anxiety to win.

I had decided that, not having picked up a racquet for six weeks I was no hope. I decided to simply hit the ball as best I could and just play the game. Sure enough I lost the first game 15 - 4. (A hiding) But I didn’t get upset and found, to my surprise, that I was enjoying just competing. The second game I lost 15 - 13. I walked off the court feeling great. I was actually enjoying myself.

The third game came along and I won it 15 - 8. I was amazed. I came back to earth in the next game and lost it 15 - 12. As we walked off the court I turned to my opponent and thanked him for the great game. He commented that he wouldn’t want to play me if I was fully fit.

I then realized that it wasn’t about winning. It was about competing and enjoying just playing. I was so grateful to be on the court that the importance of winning receded. I haven’t enjoyed a game so much in years.

Later that night I was thinking about the whole episode and I had the most profound realization. We all know that life is a game. We also know that no one wins all the time. I certainly would have liked to win last night, but the enjoyment I got from competing and just playing the game underscored that being in the game is the most important thing.

How would it be if we all had the spirit of play as we live, faced our daily challenges and were simply grateful for the opportunity to compete? Last night my defeat taught me an important lesson and I suffered no disappointment at all. My defeat became a victory on a different level. I am going to try to turn my defeats into lessons and my wins into celebrations of playing the game of life.

I hope this is as uplifting for you as it was for me.

Life is a game. Go ahead, play.

Regards,

Ollie Lind