Grip

By Rolo B. Cena
Arabian Diaries
Dumaguete Star Informer
15 November 2009

Every time we play, our coach always yells at us these three words: grip, position and swing.

In lawn tennis, grip means the way the player handles (as in grasp, clasp or clench) his racquet. It suggests a strong clench to the racquet to contact the ball forcefully strong and tactically positioned. The moment the grip is weak, the responsive ball contact is also weak and it gives way for the opponent to score by fault.

Position in lawn tennis is strategically and fundamentally important. In responding to the opponent’s ball using the forehand, one should position in one-hundred-eighty degrees facing to the right, swing the forehand clockwise and hit the ball from the back following through the shoulder then back to the normal position. Relatively, if you defend the opponent’s ball using the backhand, the same principle applies except the location.

In life, sometimes the best lesson is never learned until we lose grip of things. It is said that we only acknowledge the importance of one “thing or person” after we lose it or him. Most often our grips are lighter that when an ace ball of problems is approaching from the opposite side, we lose control of the ball thereby allowing the opponent to score.

Losing our best grips can be fatal. We can be disgruntled and couldn’t figure out anymore what to do. Chances are, we indulge in self-pity or inject harm to ourselves. Others pretend to be happy or unaffected to cover up. Take note: there is no superiority complex; it is a cover up of inferiority.

Arguably, we sometimes lose touch of life’s best because we tend to neglect, deny, or ignore our position in it. We always fail to put things in proper perspective. Most often, especially when familiarity plays, contempt ensues that we forget delivering appropriate moves and speeches and bestowing our best spot in all matters.

Swinging connotes flexibility and adaptability. Sometimes, we just seem to be too stiff to handle matters that we forget to swing even an inch to move forward for a better motion. The moment we don’t swing, this is tantamount to saying that we cannot be flexible or adaptable at all times. Oftentimes, when we are attacked with pressures, we tend to be immobile forgetting that the best swings can propel us to somewhere instead of being static and be brought to nowhere.

Most of the time, taking the best grip with your body in strategic position is always the remedy to all worries, especially when you swing matters with gusto.

Teofilo, who’s in the Kingdom for his first contract, has been married for eighteen years now. Since he does not want to bring his family to Saudi Arabia, he has to face the daily ordeal of being alienated for a longer period and the psychological imbalances this alienation would bring about. One day, in one of our game breaks, he cracked the news saying that he was planning to resign from his work due to the internal and external pressures he is experiencing. He said, he has, to date, three “moder” (boss or superior) and all of them take no for an answer. He reached to a point of crying his pressures out.

Being in HR does give me an excuse to discuss the consequences of his plan with emphasis. I asked him whether or not he discussed his matter with their HR and the consequences. His response was negative.

Technically and legally, once a contract worker resigns from work, he will be charged with the following: cost of visa, air ticket, agency fee, and iqama (residential permit or national ID to non-saudis). In all, these may sum up to about ten thousand Saudi Riyals. Your air ticket and exit visa to leave the kingdom shall be to your own account.

Hearing this, he abruptly withdrew his statement and silently retired to the corner of the court. He did not play again that day. The following day, he called me in my office to appreciate the idea I did discuss the other night. Since then, he was calling me for advices.

In the highway of men called life, remember that we can always take U-turns. If ever we do this, remember that taking u-turns connotes that failure has once been experienced and having said that, we should this time grip with focus, position with discipline and swing with attitude.

Focus is the propeller; discipline is the rudder. The attitude is the steering wheel. Focus and discipline should conjunct with the right attitude in order to achieve a safe and meaningful journey. The juxtaposition of the three creates a synergy that can conquer the strongest of kingdoms or win the toughest of games.

Fair winds and following seas!