Mind over Matter
Mind over Matter
The 2012 season has been and gone and it is now November, a month of reflecting on things that we are thankful for. I am thankful for so many things in my life. I have the most amazing family anyone could ask for, that would be number one, and I am thankful that I am able to live a life of freedom in a place that I love.
I am also very thankful for the many great experiences and memories I was able to be a part of over this past year and many of these happened while traveling across the country playing the sport I love.
For my partner and I, the 2012 season had it’s ups and downs, but were able to finish off the season strong with a win at the NVL Motherlode in Aspen, Colorado. When I look back and reflect, while it was great to end on a high note, it was just one moment in a sea of many and the things that I hold even deeper and dearer to my heart than any finish are the people I have met along the way and the experiences we’ve shared. It’s about the experience as a whole, not the end result; and that last trip, like many others, was filled with learning experiences.
Rewinding a couple of months back, my partner and I had just arrived in Aspen. We had first traveled to Cincinnati to play in the AVP event. We were unsure whether or not we wanted to spend the money to play in this event because it was not an easy, nor cheap trip to make. This event was a smaller draw than usual, which put us as the 3 seed in the qualifier, but since we knew it was only one match we had to win to make it into the main draw and win at least enough to cover the trip, we decided the risk/reward made sense.
However, the day we arrived for the tournament we found out another team was allowed to enter the draw late. We also found out that instead of bumping a team out of the main draw as is usual in this circumstance, they decided to keep that extra team in and eliminate one of the promised qualifying spots, which now meant we had to play 2-3 hard fought matches to get into the main event, instead of one. This tournament was a smaller draw than normal, so this change meant playing multiple teams that are normally in the “main draw” just for our chance to play in the event and earn money to help cover what we spent to come and play. Being that both my partner and I were nursing injuries, doing our best to play through them and finish the season, this was a bit of a tough change for us to deal with on the spot.
We did win the match that was supposed to be our one to get in. But, we were unsuccessful in making it in with the changes made, mostly because, as much as we tried not to, we let the frustration of the situation get to us and effect our play. This was difficult to take, we wanted so badly to pull it together and overcome the frustrating circumstances that were not within our control, but we did not prevail.
Lucky for us, we had booked refundable flights to be able to make it to the NVL Motherlode in Aspen, CO in case things did not go well in Cincinnati. It was hard not to dwell on the frustration, but we were determined to turn it into motivation this time around and take our second chance to prove we could overcome.
When my partner talked to her boyfriend about the situation, he gave us a little piece of gold that carried us through the weekend – in trying to cheer her up, he quoted White Men Can’t Jump and told her “Sometimes when you lose, you really win.”
She delivered this quote to me in a voice I will never forget and we both had a good laugh – after that, we were determined to make this our truth. Managing the injuries was difficult, but we continued to remind each other how much this chance at redemption meant to us and we were able to pull off a victory.
Ultimately, the victory was the least of what we “won” – that trip to Aspen was one of the most memorable trips for me personally to date, we were put up in a very nice place, sort of a mansion in Aspen, called the Asylum by a friend of a friend Cheryl Wyly. We were treated to an exquisite dinner the night before the final day of the tournament – here are a few pictures of the place and dinner.
The truth of the matter is, we gained so much throughout the entire experience, all of it. And it was a great reminder to me of some important truths:
1 – Failure is essential on the road to real success – it teaches us many valuable lessons if we chose to view it as a learning opportunity and it is the true test of just how much you want something.
And…
2 – It is how we chose to respond to the adversity when it comes that makes all the difference, because it will always come – it’s about how you play your hand, not about the cards you were dealt.
With it being the off-season now, I might have a little time to practice this mental training in one of my favorite games outside of volleyball, Texas Hold ‘em. And when I see that hesitation from my opponent across the table, I will say, 7/2, I’m not afraid of you – I don’t even need your help to win this hand;).
2 COMMENTS
Congratulations, Laryssa, on the Motherlode! I enjoy reading your blog!!
Thank you Tammy! Hope things are good down south, hear you have some Californians attempting to become Hog Hunters;) Happy Holidays!