Playing badminton with lemons =)

Life loves us so much it wants to let us take away something. Something we wont forget, hopefully, forever. It is either something good. Or , bad. Its easy to take the good, but how u take the bad along with you?

I just got into lots of recent experiences where life seemed to literally fire cannonballs of lemons to everyone I see around me. Im no exception as well. So in all this chaos and uncertainty, insecurity, doubt, hurt, etc........what should we do?

I love badminton alot. Ive been playing it since i was like 10 years old. And with my dad, i was always at his mercy of shots. Those days when i was young, inexperienced with my racket, i dont know exactly how to handle my dads shots. Its like suddenly i thought a soft slow shot will come, suddenly he whips a fast backhand smash at me. Not 1 2 or 3 times. At least 30 of them. Now i know he was training me (and at times i do get frustrated not able to return the shot). But i WANT to return the shot PROPERLY and with EQUAL venom and PURPOSE. What should i do? The obvious answer : TRAINING. After somany years at the receiving end, i think it was time i did something about it. I had to ACT.

I always used to react by simply TRYING to hit the shuttle back (with my low skill level) but often either I :

1) Miss the shuttle
2) Hit wrong direction
3) Hit back tak cukup kuat
4) KENA hit by the shuttle
5) Just move out of the way

All this had one root cause, i was simply REACTING to the shot. Not ACTING to counter it and turn the situation around. In essence, i was unprepared.

After good training for abt 5 years (this is a once a week training plus playing games in between) and till now as present, I can firmly say I am now ABLE to ACT on any shot I want. Now playing with my dad its no longer me reacting to his shots, but rather me acting to get back at him. With my wisdom, my knowledge, my abilities, my skill all from which based upon hours of training. And I am now much much better at playing a solid decent tactical game.

In life it applies exactly the same. You need to tackle life tactfully. Not by merely REACTING to the situation at hand, but ACTING appropriately as best as possible that benefits you. In the game of badminton, it doesnt matter what happens to the opponent. If he initiated an attack, and u managed to control and defend well, its your advantage. You can control the game BETTER. You might even win. You just need some training!

Countless times we are let down by those close to us. We be nice and all, but others are plain mean and superly not understanding. Some even cant see pass the cornea of their eyes. Hypocrites. Judgemental. Hot tempered. You-get-in-the-firing-line-innocently. We deal with lots of issues everyday. Then what do we do? Retaliate? React and right away figth back blindly? Since he is cruel, i be cruel too? He wont apologize, so I wont as well? He ignores me, so i ignore him?

Thats the FIRST ReaCtioN everyone will do. Its usually what comes first to the mind. We let out our full blown barage of attacks and replies. @#^!!!!%$*^*@$^(* we all usually say. Perfect thank you gift.

There must be an equal solution(s) to all this. And fortunately there are many solutions to handle our dissappointments, differences, disagreements. One of them is being meek.

Meekness is a great asset. Now in contrast to popular modern culture, being meek doesn mean being quite, kept to ownself, submissive or retreat. Meekness if properly understood means "Power under control" - as used to describe how wild horses full of energy are tamed to be of better use for their master. This also means u control yourself and your "power" to control the situation.

We all must agree this : Life isnt perfect. Not even God said that we will not face any problems at all (Christians and non alike!) Some people cant live up to our expectations. And we cannot possibly please everyone. There are pitfalls in everyone. So the best solution is simply learn and TRAIN ourselves to love and be gentle, tender heart and teachable. Not pointing fingers at others sins/inequities. Not laughing at others failures. Not bursting out in anger. Not lashing someone with a whip and a sword. Not engulfed in flames of fury. And sometimes we have to admit we can POSSIBLY be wrong due to our own actions. In short : Control yourself as best as you can.

A great test of maturity is how one can handle irritating, disagreeable, contradictory, argumentative, quarrelsome people. I am aware NOT ALL can do it. But it has to start somewhere. Or else how are you going to ACT upon the situation? Will you be in control? If you dont train to control yourself , your actions be going way out the window. If u said "He/she is making me mad/angry/upset!" , it simply shows that you have already let your feelings come under control/influence by other people. Remember, the control is yours. No one can dictate how you control your own emotions and feelings.

In badminton you are not supposed to let your opponent dictate the way you play until you fall into his trap. Do not let him make you play the shots he wants you to play. And then when you lose, you blame him yet not examine yourself. Get your play right first!

Heres one useful tip. If the situation gets out of control, dont let our emotions and actions get out of control as well. Dont start a nuclear war when already half the world is gone.

If you take the time to study the REAL essence of it all, it its purely out of love. Why again i emphasize love? Simply because if the purpose wasnt love, it be a total waste of our time to even bother relating with anyone.

God never ever set a standard for us to reach. If that happened we be the most bottom of that level. An impossibility to reach. A simple example for all of us : Who can undoubtly say he/she has never sinned in their life time? If you dare to answer yes , you should not be reading this nor should you be here on earth anyway. Want a much more simpler task : Love everyone equally. Can we ever love anyone 100% equally? No. We cant even reach perfection to love ourselves 100% what more those around us. But this is the amazing thing, God can love us 100% and we just need to accept it. All we need to do in return is love back God as we are. And in the same way, we love those around us as we are.

So life isnt a difficult place once you grasp the understanding of what love CAN do. The key to overcome anything has always been something out of love.

Meekness is a power controlled by love.

"Blessed are the meek for they shall be in control of the earth." Matthew 5:5