The End Of An Athlete’s Era – I’m Glad I’m An Intellectual Player, Not Physical, And I Compete Only With Myself Always Aiming For Social Victory!
“The Spaniard was defeated in a match that lasted
three hours and five minutes.
“Roland Garros legend Rafael Nadal bid farewell to
the tournament on Monday after a tough battle against Alexander Zverev. Nadal,
who has dominated the clay courts of Paris for years, lost 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in
a gruelling match that lasted three hours and five minutes.
“While only Nadal and his body know if this is a
definitive goodbye, all signs seemed to point in that direction.”
I, as an intellectual
player, at 83 (in 4 months, 84), I thank God I am neither planning nor feeling
toward saying goodbye to writing, after 24+ years, mostly blogging. The writing
has been mostly inspiring – to myself and aimed to be inspiring to others.
Lawn tennis and digital writing? The physical has
limits – the mental has none as far as I can see!
“Nadal gave his all
to compete in the best possible condition, but it wasn't enough against a
superior opponent. With his current ranking of 275, Nadal faces a future of
challenging matches against top-ranked players from the very beginning of
tournaments.
“Zverev's victory
makes him only the third player to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros, following Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic. This was only the second
time Nadal lost in his debut match at a major tournament.
“(Even so), the 15,000
spectators at Philippe Chatrier
supported him wholeheartedly. Gone are the days when the crowd was against him,
as they were from 2005 to 2008, preferring Roger
Federer.”
In my self-learned
and self-imposed profession of digital writing, I do not see any competition
except myself!
Nadal’s superb physical
dexterity for playing lawn tennis has now left him – in contrast, I thank God my
mental prowess for writing has not left me since I displayed this talent in
public in 1975, fathering 3 publications for the Forest Research Institute (now ERDB) in a field I was not
trained for, that is, Forestry – I studied for my BSA major in Ag Ed at UP Los Baños and
graduated in 1965, and taught myself at that prehistoric age – Before the Age
of Computers.
I see my competitor as
myself when I write – I try to write better and better as I write more and more
about how people can help themselves and others make the world a better place
to live.
In his “Rafael Nadal
Fans” entry on Facebook, 28 May 2024, Peter
Gift Otaluwa says: “If this is it for the 14-time French Open champion,
what a run it's been(!)”
What about me as an aging writer? Wonderfully, and as a Roman Catholic I thank God that I do not see my mental powers as “aging” – in fact, I think now more, and faster, thanks to the Almighty!@517
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