Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A lesson learnt

Life teaches us her lessons in so many different ways. Sometimes you learn by experience - your own or others, sometimes by failure or sometimes through some friend or stranger.

I learnt a lesson today... and I learnt it from a friend! Amit shared a beautiful story with me today in response to my 'Why Me!!!' blog series. It's his version of the story of tennis superstar Arthur Ashe and his take on life. It surely is a must-read for any of you who has 'ditto'-ed (or will 'ditto' in the future) my thoughts on 'Why Me!!!'.

Here's what Amit had to say...
The story is as follows.. it is in my own words since I do not have the original story... but the essence is well captured. I guess you can take the learning from this... this is MY FAVOURITE STORY !!!

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Arthur Ashe was a 3 time Grand Slam winnner (including the Wimbledon in 1975) who was later on diagonised with HIV in 1988, to which he eventually succumbed in 1993. Given that he was an extremely popular man, he used to get all kinds of fan mail when he was in hospital. One day, he received a letter from a woman asking, amongst other things, 'Why did God have to chose you for this dreaded disease?????'

To which, Arthur answered as follows: (again the numbers might not be accurate)
'Nearly 500,000 kids start playing tennis year...
Of which, about 5000 reach the proffessional level of tennis
Of which, only 128 are good enough to play in Wimbledon
Of which, only 2 reach the final
Of which, only 1 wins the coveted Wimbledon trophy'
So each year, out of the lakhs of kids that take up tennis, only 1 is chosen by God to win Wimbledon.

So when I was standing on Centre Court in Wimbledon all those years back holding aloft the men's singles champion trophy, did I look up to the heavens and ask God, "Why me????"


Here's what I said in reply...

Hey Amit,

Thanks for sharing the story with me.

Truly touching and definitely teaches me to take things as they come in true sportsman spirit.

I fully agree that life balances the positives we have with a few not so positive moments. It takes a lot of grit to accept that reality and move on with life.

I started off my 'Why Me!!!' blog only because I also believe that to 'move on' despite all odds you need to shed them away instead of holding onto them. Sharing stuff with friends and well-wishers will only attract sympathy and philosophy. 'Why Me!!!' gives me my own personal space to yell out as loudly as I can without still being heard :). Has helped me vent out my 'gussa' through my writing and makes me feel a lot lot lighter.

************

Thanks Amit for letting me put this up here. I'm sure it'll somehow impact those who spend some time around 'Why Me!!!'

16 comments:

Nemo said...

Read this somewhere, will just quote it here...

I asked God "Why me???"
He said "Nothing personal. Your name just came up!"

:)

priya said...

@Nemo

Thanks for dropping by and the comment too :)

That was a nice one... guess we'll all be hoping that our name 'just comes up' for all the right reasons :)

Shreekanth said...

very nice inspiring story- and i like this idea of a blog on Why me"
Good luck

priya said...

@shreekanth

thanks for coming along and the comment too.

i'm happy you liked the story and i hope the message sticks on to us all forever...

abt 'why me'... thanks :)

June Saville said...

Nice story Priya
Thanks for visiting 70 Plus and Still Kicking.
June in Oz

priya said...

@June

Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment too.

Will be great to have you back on my blog space.

I blog more often on Bindaas Baatein. This one's only when I get really cribby :)

Biju Mathews said...

Yeah, one needs to just let go and move on sometimes.

Keep Blogging!

priya said...

@biju

somehow though wanting to let go and move on is a lot easier than actually doing it...

thanks for the comment and visiting my space

Kush said...

You have a unique flair for writing, lady!
Enjoyed this.

priya said...

@Rhett

Thanks a ton for dropping by and leaving your comment too.

I'm so glad you liked my post.

You can read more of my posts on Bindaas BaateinComments like yours keeps me going :)

Unknown said...

Hi Priya ...really an upliftting story "why me".i want to pledge that i would never question God "why me" ever.
Thanks :)

priya said...

@Nidhi

Thanks for coming along and leaving your comment.

I'm glad this post made a difference to you.

I just realized that after this positive post on Why Me!!! i've rearely felt like cribbing... atleast online :)

Sandeep said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sandeep said...

Stumbled on your Blog while googling... Tell you what Priya, I had a good time reading your Blog! "An unfinished dream..." was truly awesome! Keep posting!

priya said...

@Sandeep

Thanks again for the comment. Am glad you liked my posts.

ManPreet Kaur said...

nice blog..
Pls Visit My Blog..

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