Rafa: "If you can dream and not make dreams your master."
Federer: "You can wait and not be tried by waiting."
(Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer...two HUGE tennis competitors but after matches and off the court they are wonderful friends and a blast to watch together.)
These two quotes are from a poem called, "If" by Rudyar Kipling and it's beautiful. I posted these quotes on Facebook today because I said I was going to "dedicate today to Rafa" because he's defending his championship today at the US Open against Novak Djokovic whom Nadal lost to in Wimbledon and has in fact lost to him five times. So I was watching some videos of Rafa both old and new and had to watch this particular video on the Wimbledon match in 2008 (when I became a Rafael Nadal fan) Federer vs. Nadal cause it's a great video and it just gets you so pumped up over tennis. And they both say those two pieces out of clips of conversations either after the game or before with the press or a private interviewer and they really touch me deep in a place that I'm not even sure where it is.
Let's talk about Rafa's first: "If you can dream and not make dreams your master." Now that's quite the opposite of what's been engraved in me and many other people in that dream and reach for the stars and don't let anything get in your way has been what most every parent tells their child, right? And to me, if you listen to Rafa, I guess that kinda sounds like you're making dreams your master. But Rafa here is saying don't let them be your master. Is he perhaps trying to say that there are other things in life that are just as important if not more important in some things? That we shouldn't always be focused on our dreams because we may miss important and beautiful things along the way while we're working so hard. I think he has something there. You can dream and dream big and reach for the stars, but don't let those dreams become your master that enslave you to such hard work that you miss out on all that life is, things that are beautiful in life and in the world because the dream has given you tunnel vision on that dream.
Now Federer's is maybe my favorite for a certain reason: "You can wait but not be tried by waiting." Wow, that one really strikes a chord with me because from previous posts you know that I've described and identified myself with being a gypsy, always on the move in all aspects of my life. And sitting here in this house, it just feels like I'm waiting and waiting. Waiting for more surgeries, waiting for that final surgery (not FINAL final) that allows me to get on the move again, be independent again, chase my dream and reach for the stars. Now I don't of course mean final final surgery, just the surgery that allows me to be independent again and then I'll of course continue with more surgeries for the rest of my life. Besides the dis-figuration and dependence that drives me mad, the waiting, oh my god, drives me CRAZY! I have never been a really patient person when it comes to certain things. I'm relatively patient with people (except stupid people) but there are some things that I just don't have the patience for and the situation I'm in, is one of them and it requires all the patience in the world. So when Fed says, "you can be tried but not be tried by waiting," makes me want to be strong and not let the waiting crawl under my skin where it gets to me and then makes me want to crawl OUT of my skin. To not be tried by waiting...now that's a feat when you've been in a similar situation as mine.
I must be able to wait but not be tried by waiting and dream, but not make those dreams my master. Wow, that's a lot to try to do. But if I'm gonna make it past 29, I gotta think about those kind of things that wise people like these two say, even though they're very young they've been through a lot with their hard work to become professionals and win championships. And what they said struck a chord with me this morning.
The link to that GREAT wimbledon '08 youtube video I watch to get pumped up for tennis. Seriously, watch.
Greatest Match EVER: Wimbledon '08, Federer vs. Nadal
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