| Weakness |
May 13, 2012
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| She was his counselor. He was a professional tennis player. He was a good player but during games he was too nervous and lost many games. She said in a gentle voice, "You are a very good tennis player. You train harder than we can imagine. You are very skillful. If you were as calm in your games as you are now, you would win all of your games." The next day, he had a match with a lower ranked player. He lost the game badly. He came to the counselor and said, "I can't play tennis any more. I've got a chicken heart." She said in a gentle voice, "You've been training for many years. You can't be a weak player. You only need self-confidence." He said, "I know, I know. I usually have confidence in my tennis  ability, but when I'm in a match I easily lose myself." She said, "How about thinking that your opponent is a cabbage?" "I already tried it. But cabbages don't move." She said, "You are right. How about thinking that your opponent is a chimpanzee?" "I tried it before, but chimpanzees don't play tennis." "Ok. You are right. How about thinking that your opponent is a child?" "My opponents are bigger than children. And, more so, they are meaner than any children." She got tired of encouraging him, and said sarcastically, "If your opponent was yourself, you could easily beat him." The next day he had a match with a rather strong opponent. He imagined hard, "He is me. He is me." The opponent gave a strong serve. He thought, "This is like my serve after training hard." He missed hitting the ball. "Oh, my serve was really good!" The opponent missed his next serve. He thought, "The toss was quite low, this time. I should have tossed it higher." The second serve was still good. He thought, "My serve was not so bad, but my return volley ..." he returned the ball with a strong swing, "...was not so bad either." The opponent couldn't return the volley. He gained momentum and confidence. He won the match. The counselor's professional advice worked. He defeated all of his opponents after that away, imagining that they were himself. (The End) |
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*during :の間
*imagine :想像する
*calm :落ち着いた
*chicken heart :臆病
*confidence :自信
*ability :能力
*opponent :敵
*mean :意地悪な
*encourage :勇気づける
*sarcastically :皮肉を込めて
*beat :倒す
*momentum. :勢い