By Simbo Olorunfemi
I follow sports religiously. I believe there are a lot of valuable lessons about life from it. Often, I watch while at work. It is US Open season now. Because of the time difference, it demands of one sleepless nights, back to back, in order to be able to catch up.
Some day, I will write about Tennis. I will write about the elegance of Federer, the rebirth of Djokovic, the grit of Murray, the beauty of Blake, the miracle back-hand of Wawrinka, the fighter in Nadal, the beautiful soul of Venus Williams and the phenomenal herself, Serena Williams. Some day, soon.
Tennis itself is a phenomenal sport. It is like boxing, in a way. Without a time limit though. Tennis is configured, by its rules, to always give the player a second chance. You have the opportunity for a second Serve. You lose a game. There is another one to comw which you can use to make up. You lose a set, there is yet a chance for another, to be able to recover. But we are not talking about Tennis yet. That will come some day. Soon.
I write about Formula1, Lewis Hamilton and the rivalry with Nico Rosberg. Yet again, Lewis, last season’s champion, has had a roller-coaster, of sorts, of a season. It started on an awful note for him, problems with his car and a few other things at the beginning of the season. Before anyone knew it, he was already 49 points behind Nico in the race for the world title. Season already over, it was thought. The title was virtually gone.
But with Hamilton, there is always a second half. Gradually, Lewis began to make a come-back. With a few helps here and there and the delicate shell of Nico Rosberg began to crack. The mind games soon got to him. Lewis not only caught up with him, by mid-season, he pulled ahead of Nico by 19 points. This was how it was when they went on the mid-season break.
But when they came back a few weeks ago, it was with the news of some issues with Lewis’ car, necessitating a change of parts on it. With the penalty that came with that, he was relegated to the back of the grid for the race. It was no good news, but it was what it was. But Lewis, helped by the safety car and his own brilliant driving, somehow defied the odds to make it to the podium in 3rd place. That was a great result, as he succeeded in minimising the impact of the start from the back, and with that maintained his lead at the top.
The week after was however different. Lewis was brilliant all through practice and Qualifying, and comfortably got the pole. But surprisingly, his start at the main race was unbelievably awful.Yet, he fought his way back to eventually come second. With that, he dropped more points and his lead at the top was now reduced to only 2 points. Predictably, Lewis was very furious at the turn of events. But that, for me, is not the point, here.
It was the narrative that followed the race. Somehow, the narrative suddenly became about that one race and no longer about the season. We were now being treated to this ‘momentum’ for Nico, as if it was not just one mistake in one race. It was suddenly now all about how Lewis has thrown away 19 points lead.
It was no longer about how Lewis had come from 49 points behind. It was no longer about how Lewis did not have much of a choice with the first race, as he was forced to start from the back. It was no longer about how he brilliantly recovered from the back of the grid. It was not about how he managed to come second in spite of the tardiness at the start. Rather than dwell on the many positives to the story, it was suddenly now about the minor negative, for those pushing the narrative.
But is that not how it is with life? One fall is magnified as complete failure. One mistake is deployed to define us. One fault, they want to hold you down, let you sink beyond redemption. One negative becomes the anchor for the narrative. The victim becomes the villain. No one remembers the triumphs of yesterday. It is now all about the slip of today.
Indeed, always, it is about who is telling the story. It is all about the agenda behind the narrative. It is about what they choose to see, not necessarily about what it is.It is up to us what we choose to see or dwell on, between the positive or the negative. Often, it is more about who is telling the story.
But their story should never define us. It is up to us to choose what we let get to us. It is up to us if we let their story get to us. For, at the end of the day, it is mostly about who is telling the story. Lewis is hardly ever bothered or moved by these false narratives. He has some experience dealing with that. He should bounce back. We should too.
One mistake, even multiple errors or falls, should not define us. Life is a game of tennis. Like the game, it offers us an opportunity to bounce back. Life bounces us like a ball, but that in itself gives us a chance to bounce back. It is up to us what we choose to do when we land on the ground.
I choose to dwell on the positives. I choose hope.
