All good things...

Today he still knows my name, but it’s possible that tomorrow he won’t. We’re already to the point where our conversations no longer make sense. I don’t want to upset him, so I act normal when he tells me that the president is coming at 2 o’clock; And when he says he’s going to buy a new house for his mother to live in, I act as if I don’t know that she’s been dead since before I was even born.

It is an aggressive form of Alzheimer’s that is rapidly taking my grandfather away from me. This once tough and tall man, who ran his own construction company for as far back as I can remember is being carried away in his mind to a place that I can no longer reach. Other than the fact that he sits these days much more than he stands, on the outside he still looks the same, but inside is a totally different story. While I’m thankful to still have him here, in many ways I feel as if he has already left.

“All good things must come to an end” was what he said to me when I saw him last. And, he’s right; everything that is good does one day come to an end. And now the signs are there that one of the truly good things in my life is slowly slipping way. New people may enter, people who inspire me, who may even become my new representation of strength and constant support, but no one will ever replace him.

And so granddaddy was right…’all good things do come to an end’...I just wish this were turning out to be a much happier one.

Sports & Competition

I didn’t take up sports until I was well into my adult life. I discovered Tennis at the ripe old age of 27 and ever since the sport has been holding me captive. Tennis is one of those games that will train the mind just as well as it trains the body. One of the things the game has helped me understand are the intricacies of this thing called ‘competition’.

We all know that having a ‘competitive spirit’ is critical to becoming successful in any sport. While it is necessary, it can also be a double edged sword. Yes, being competitive and working hard to win is a good thing, but only in the proper context. There is also, undoubtedly, a dark side to competition. What happens when winning becomes the only goal of competition? What happens when we get to the point where we’ll do anything to win, even compromise our integrity?

Yes, winning, especially after a hard fought battle, is exhilarating but aren’t there more things to be gained from competition. For instance, isn’t it just as important to know how to lose? I mean shouldn’t we also want to share that glorious feeling of having the ‘W’ marked by our name or do we just want to hog all the wins for ourselves? And of course I don’t mean that we shouldn’t try to win every time we compete; but what I am saying is that we should still know how to be winners even when we don’t win.

If you have to win all the time to feel like a winner, can you really be considered one?

The Inauguration

Finally, a place to post some of the miscellaneous things that are on my mind. I started this blog to expose myself and my thoughts in a more informal way.

I spend a lot of time without talking but words run through my mind all day। I’ll use this forum to talk about stuff like spirituality, relationships, love, friendship, creativity, and even sports. I’ll even talk about stuff that doesn’t fit into any of these categories.

At times I’ll write with the hope that maybe someone can relate to where I’m coming from। At other time I’ll write just to get things off my chest. I will even write to reinforce within myself all the things I’ve been dreaming in my own mind to one day see.

So fasten your seat belts….here we go!