I found out the hard way, receiving awards and impressive remarks often becomes an addiction, an enslavement of the mind. The more you do, the more you feel the need to do, to stay ahead of others and your past self. And when you're not doing, you feel worthless to the world. It's one thing to be build a resume to get into college or to get a good job, it's another thing to believe that resume gives you self-worth. We live as social profiles unable or unwilling to admit that Saturday night we did nothing. Looking back, tennis was trying to free me from those future expectations. [Excerpt]
I have an unhealthy obsession with seeing average people win needless crap. The more
average the person and the more needless the crap, the higher my brain’s serotonin spikes. [Excerpt]
Secretly I like to think that the hope of the gift and what it represents is really what we’re after. To know that we are loved. When we feel loved, we want to become the best versions of ourselves. And Jess makes me want to be my better version. [Excerpt]
I believe in the act of dreaming. And that success doesn't come with an overnight fulfillment. Well, it's best when it doesn't. I believe that true success is measured by what we become in the process. That's what determines when the dream has arrived. [Excerpt]
We live in a world that is obsessed with being better than. Doesn't matter who, just be better. But finding our purpose in 'being better' will always leave us thirsting for more. There will always be someone stronger, faster, smarter, richer, younger, more experienced, more popular, more influential, leaner, funnier. [Excerpt]
It's in that moment that I realized there are two kinds of flying people. The first kind get annoyed by everything when traveling. Each delay, each slow walker, each person who jumps ahead in line. Then, there is the second kind which has learned to love (or at least embrace) the unexpected. [Excerpt]
