Once upon a time not so very long ago, there was a village called Tennis Town, where a
group of young girls found joy in hitting a ball back and forth and forth and back and
back and forth and forth and back. The rhythm of the ball, the music on the strings,
made them happy. Like a mantra said over and over, this made them forget life’s
troubles: their fears, their private griefs, a world of uncertainty.
As they grew better and older, they saw there was a world outside of Tennis Town and
began to hit back and forth and forth and back against girls from other villages. They
found they had something very special as a group that not all groups have: an ability to
be kind to one another when things were going well and when things were not going
well.
As they grew even older, as will happen in life, one became more skilled than the other
became more skilled than the other became more skilled than the other at hitting back
and forth. They began to see the distance grow between each other in their skills.
But in a world where being the best of the best is the most important thing, a strange
thing happened with the Tennis Town girls: you could not tell who the best of the best
was, because the Tennis Town girls cheered each other on no matter who was who or
when was when.
This continued as the Tennis Town girls made their way one summer to the land of
Tennis & Life, where, as a team they would hit the ball and laugh and laugh. And sing.
Yes, sing. And when the horn blew from the top of the castle tower in the middle of the
back and forths, they would stop what they were doing, lie down on the court and look
up at the sky for one whole minute, thinking of how grateful they were for their families,
their friends, the cool breeze, the hot sun, and their dogs.
And when the horn blew after a minute they would leap up and hit the ball again as if
nothing had occurred in between. But, of course, it had, and with each Gratitude Minute
in the land of Tennis & Life, they were changed a little and could never go back to
“before” because their hearts were a tiny bit bigger than a minute ago.
And lo, it came time to journey to what was known in all the villages as the Grand Old
Best of the Best Team Tournament. They were ready. They won and won. Laughed
and laughed. And occasionally got irritated, as all people do in every land. Then they
would laugh again.
But on the bus ride to the final day of the Grand Old Best of the Best Team Tournament,
which would prove to them if they were the best team in all the land at hitting back and
forth, another strange thing happened. Amid all the tension that surrounded this day,
they began to sing. Songs they learned in Tennis & Life Land. They couldn’t all sing
like they could play tennis, but they could all sing like they meant it. So that’s what they
did.
When they finished the songs, one of the older girls said, it is time for a Gratitude
Minute. The bus fell quiet, and for a minute they thought of all the things in life they
were grateful for: their families, their friends, their teammates, the cool breeze through
the bus window and the hot sun. And, of course, their dogs. And the opportunity to just
be here with each other, the best of the best and the not best of the best, no matter
what was to come.
Then they got off the bus and played.
When one would lose, they surrounded her with love and praise for giving everything
she had and cried with her because they felt each other’s pain. When one would win,
they surrounded her with love and praise for giving everything she had because they felt
each other’s joy.
Through it all, the leaders who were the best of the best cheered mightily for the not
best of the best, and the leaders who were the not best of the best cheered full throated
for the best of the best. For in Tennis Town, every girl was a leader.
But how did it end for the girls from Tennis Town? It ended in tears. But were they tears
of happiness or disappointment? I’m not going to tell you.
Because in this fairy tale, to the teller of this tale, the most beautiful thing was watching
the best of the best serving the not best of the best. And the not best of the best
serving the best of the best. And other than receiving a lifetime supply of chocolates,
how can it get any sweeter than that?
Most fairy tales end with “The End”.
This one ends with “The Beginning”.