Episode 04: Open
Hello and welcome to the fourth episode of Metamorphosis. This time featuring New York Times Bestselling Book, Open by Andre Agassi.
Andre is one of the most beloved and gifted athletes to have ever played tennis. His story gives a raw and heaving account of his innermost dialogue throughout his career, as he poetically crafts and recounts every experience on and off the court.
His book enamours, 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts' concept and is thematically based on contradictions. Relatable on every level, I think we all do contradict ourselves, rather unknowingly. From cover to cover, the book helps you live his emotions in shattering disappointments and ride the waves of his resurrection to greatness.
Andre depicts a life framed by conflict as he recalls, "This contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do feels like the core of my life." One can sense the vexing situation an undersized 7-year-old would be in, given he hates tennis. Well, for the most part, it gives power to the fact, "We cannot change the cards that we are dealt, just how we play the hand…"
As he resolves, "If I must play tennis, the loneliest sport, then I'm sure as hell going to surround myself with as many people as I can off the court. And each person will have his specific role".
Today the world remembers Andre as a winner of 8 Grand Slam titles but very few know about his struggles. About times when he absorbed scattershot remarks based on pre-conceived notions. The world saw his self-exploration as self-expression, the changing of looks, hair and clothes. Quoted from the book, "For a man with so many fleeting identities, it's shocking and symbolic, that my initials are A.K.A."
My first takeaway revels in the power of consistency. As Andre says, "Few of us are granted the grace to know ourselves, and until we do, maybe the best we can do is be consistent." I like to remember this as going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
An excerpt from the book provides context…"But dreams, I tell Gill in one of our quiet moments, are so damned tiring. He laughs. I can’t promise you that you won’t be tired, he says. But please know this. There is a lot of good waiting for you on the other side of tired. Get yourself tired, Andre. That's where you're going to know yourself. On the other side of tired…”
The next takeaway is that 'Momentum rules the world.' In other words, our best intentions are often thwarted by external forces that we ourselves set in motion long ago, One can see that as an explanation, as to why it takes longer to effect change in any aspect of one's being. Maybe, it has something to do with decisions, especially bad ones, which create their own kind of momentum. And the momentum of our past keeps carrying us down the wrong road.
Finally, the last takeaway is about the power of ‘Choice’. The simple act of doing something that’s good for you but makes you feel uncomfortable/bad in the moment. In other words, understanding that the choices we make control us more than the conditions we meet.
In one of his journalling sessions, Andre writes to his children, “I keep playing because I choose to play. Even if it's not your ideal life, you can always choose it. No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything. I wanted to quit and leave and go home and see you. It's hard to stay and play, it's easy to go home and be with you. That's why I'm staying.”
I see that as highly transferable. One can choose to practice daily disciplines that create more balance and peace, focus on gratitude, learn to be compassionate and liberate the fear by choosing grace even in the darkest of moments.
This brings us to the end of this episode and like always, leaving you with some words to live by, as Andre says,
"The essence of good discipline is respect. Respect for authority and respect for others. It is an attitude that begins at home is re-inforced in public and is applied throughout life.”
Thanks for reading and I hope to share with you soon the next episode of Metamorphosis!
