Making it, my friend!

Volleyball was a game I aspired to play since years. Got an opportunity and I started to practice diligently. Just in 3 days of my practice, my forearms had got inflammed turning my skin to black and blue. 

My teammate, Purshottam Chawla, shared that he too had experienced the same thing but had continued with his practice and over a period of time his forearms were back to normal.

Trusting him, I too decided to carry on with the practice inspite of the excruciating pain.

As I practiced the next day, I feared the ball and avoided committing myself to the game. As a result, that day, I played sloppily and was frustrated with my performance. Something had to be done. I can't be in the playing team and fear the ball at the same time.

The whole night I kept searching for the solution. Finally, I decided, come what may I am going to play without getting bothered by the pain. I will, 'make the ball my friend'. With a firm resolve, I went for the practice. Now nothing mattered. It was only me and my 'friend', the ball. That day I played the best. Suddenly everyone was confident of my game. They decided to place me in a crucial position in the court. In the next few days, I was freezed to be, in that crucial position. I was now wanting the ball to come to me, I wanted to hit it, with the same forearms. I wanted to tame it. I wanted it to be in sync with it. It was no longer, my foe. The same ball which had put me in trouble had already turned to be my best friend.

The D-day arrived. We played 3 games. The first one, we won and the other two we lost by slender margins. My game was appreciated by everyone. No one believed that just 15 days back I had known nothing of this game.

I had discovered a magical key to success - 

"If I am learning something new and I find it difficult then, let me make that impossible instrument or task or place, 'my friend'."

I experienced, when I do that, suddenly everything feels easy and possible and I move on to a zone wherein I start doing that act effortlessly.

I experienced the same thing on my attempt to climb up, the Sinhagad hill. 

In my first attempt, I panted my way up in more than 70min. This trek appeared to be an uphill task for me. I applied my formula of turning the mountain track to be my friend. Each attempt after that of climbing the mountain turned out to be more and more easier. Finally in my 13th attempt, I climbed the same hill, in flat 42min!

'Making it, my friend' is the magical key I now have discovered. 

So whether it's about being, behind the steering wheel, any musical instrument I want to learn, the frying pan I want to use to learn cooking or even using the mouse, to learn the computers - The only thing I need to ask myself is, can I make them my friend?

Would you like to try?