The most important thing I can teach you is not how to run the
3-minute mile, hit a home run or bowl a perfect 300 game. It’s
not even how to make a three-point basket without breaking a
sweat. Or a window. The most important thing I can teach you is
how to be happy with yourself and your own athletic skills.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t run as fast as the rest of your P.E.
class. Don’t let that stop you from trying or make you feel
inferior to anyone. I couldn’t run as fast as my class, either.
They’d run the 3-minute mile. I’d run the two-day mile. But I
didn’t let my lack of speed stop me from running. In fact, all I
really needed was motivation. Once I realized that, I ended up
winning our town’s record for Fastest Sprint After an Ice Cream
Truck three years in a row.
It doesn’t matter if you strike out every time you get up at bat,
either. Not everyone can be a homerun hitter. Again, the
important thing is that you try. I didn’t hit the ball every time I
got up at bat.
My bat hit the catcher a few times, and
my ball did make it out of the ballpark once
(unfortunately it flew behind the backstop and hit the principal’s
car in the parking lot), but I didn’t let that stop me from
enjoying the game of baseball. I had fun, and that’s the
important thing.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t hit a tennis ball over the net. The
game is more fun to play when the ball makes it over, but don’t
get down on yourself if yours doesn’t. Not all of us can be the
Williams sisters. Besides, there are lots of other things to do with
a tennis racket. Straining spaghetti and making designs in
chocolate cake frosting are just two of them.
All in all, the important thing is to be comfortable with yourself
and your own athletic abilities. Any exercise is good for your
body, so don’t let lack of skill keep you from trying new sports
and enjoying your P.E. class.
Who knows? You might inadvertently discover that you have a
natural athletic ability or possess a certain skill you didn’t even
realize you had. That’s how I discovered my natural talent for
bowling. From my very first throw I was knocking down all the
pins with very little effort. Strike after strike after strike. Sure, I
still had to figure out how to keep my ball in the same lane I
started out in, but I was getting a good workout. And so were all
those people in the lanes next to me who were jumping out of
the way of my ball!
See, a good exercise program helps everybody!
