Conquer the world. Do what it takes to chase your dream. Not what people want you to be, or expects you to be.
-Sidek, N.

Do yourself a favour: Be what you want to be.

"Come with me", he said and erased it from his mind
Be with me now but of love we are frightened stiff
We'd rather leave and head for the skies
Than say all the right words too soon

And I never thought you would
But always knew you could

We take off from here and in that
Instant nothing remained of what was
Whereas the soul provides, freedom
Narrowed down for the taking

I never wanted you to lie
Never needed fragments of your day
A broken promise made
To always come around, never to stay

And as tired as clich's come
Did not expect nor frown upon
Lighter hearts have taken bait
Sweetened words now with bitter taste

A distance kept that never fails to close us in
And forget the days that still linger on
Inside the single part of two
We'd rather leave no trace and not look back
Than face the anxiety here and now

- Single Part of Two, Dark Tranquillity

Something I think was brilliantly put in words:

"A person who, like everybody else in the world, needed other people in order to be happy. But other people were so difficult.  They reacted in unpredictable ways, they surround themselves with defensive walls, they behaved just as (anybody else), pretending they didn't care about anything.  When someone more open to life appeared, they either rejected them outright or made them suffer, consigning them to being inferior, ingenuous"
Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die.

Get My Head in the Game

2 weeks. That's all the time I've got left before the tennis tournament. I haven't been actively playing and honestly, I've only REALLY played tennis almost 8-9 months ago. I did play a couple of times but twice isn't going to cover anything. So finally I was able to practice albeit badly with a good friend of mine and although I was frustrated I couldn't really get my shots right anymore, I've identified several things I really need to work on.

1. Low balls. This has always been my weakest. It's either this or my serve. Flat shots from opponents are a nightmare cause low, fast balls require lift to... LIFT and get them over the net. I have got to work on bending my legs, lowering my centre of gravity so that I'm able to at least get the ball back in play. We're not always aiming for winners, get that in your head, dude.

2. Serves. Been off the game for so long it's incredibly hard to get my serve in play. I don't have the confidence on both first and second serve. I'll fix that this weekend. Let's see how it goes.

3. Mental strength. Being in your first open tournament can be a scary thought and it doesn't get better if I worry about the two things above. I have to control my frustrations during the two days or I'll lose it. Remember I'm there to have fun, winning is secondary. God, I don't even know who will support me. Only my girlfriend is coming.

4. My right leg. Two hours yesterday nearly killed it. I'm extremely worried about the condition of my leg with the IM rod in it. It cramps too easily so warming that up is a big deal to me. Post-massage may be necessary but there are 3 matches to play on the first day. That is definitely something to worry about.