PS: I didn’t find an appropriate title to this post. If you suggest me a good one, I’ll change it.
I was watching Australian Open quarter final match between Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams few days back. (For those who have come from the moon, let me tell you that I’m talking about a tennis match between the two female players. Anyway…). Anyone who knows even a wee bit about the two players would have easily predicted Serena to win the match hands down. Of course the skinny, shrieky Belarusian was no match to her much skilled and stronger American compatriot. But what happened on the centre court was completely different. Victoria won the first set and raced to a 4-0 lead in the second one, much to the surprise of many who had come to watch the match. It looked like Serena was going to be dumped out of the tournament. But there was some thing that happened in the fifth and sixth game of the second set that changed the course of the match. Without forgetting Serena’s exceptional performance, it was Victoria who let the game slip away. She took the loose balls casually. Probably she took things for granted and was already dreaming about the place in the finals. What looked to be a easy victory for Victoria turned out to be a disaster. Serena eventually won the games, the set, the match and later the Australian Open.
I remember a similar incidence from my childhood school time memories. We used to have annual sports meets. Since there were too many kids in the school, the selection to compete in the finals was done through preliminary rounds. Getting selected was not such a big deal for me. I was an athlete back then and I used to compete in all competitions. This incidence is from one such preliminary rounds when I was in standard 9th. We were having selection trials for the 200 meters race. The race started and I gained a small lead over my closest competitor. When we had completed 100 meters, that boy who was second to me, fell down. I continued running but out of concern I looked back to see if he was alright. I saw him struggling to get up. By then I had gained a healthy lead. I thought I will win easily. I relaxed and slowed down. When I was just about to cross the finish line I felt a guy zipping past and ahead of me. Before I could realise what happened, I was told that I have failed to qualify.
Both the examples above are similar to each other and self explanatory. It teaches you that you are not victorious unless you have actually won the race. Victory is never near till it is achieved. Nothing is guaranteed. Let us not be complacent. Because complacency is dangerous.
I learnt my lesson then and I hope Victoria learnt hers as well 🙂
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