Ah, Saturday once again; coffee mug is filled to the brim, Lake Michigan is covered in reflective sunshine, sparkling in a rhythmic, choreographed dance of gentle waves. I began to do my own reflecting of this past week, looking at the hustling motion I found myself in yet again. But then I started to recall some incredible moments I had the privilege to witness.
I know we are all familiar with the old adage, “You learn something new everyday.” Yes, I do believe it’s true, but how many of us take the time to focus on that new-found ‘learning’. What was it? What did it look like? Did it change my thinking in any way? Was it something I’m going to run with and find out more? Did it inspire me? Or was it just a passing piece of “fyi” and I’ll probably never think about it again? My goodness, so many questions for such a common, everyday occurrence! Ah, not so, I believe.
Here’s what I wanted to share with you. As I hurried and scurried about my day, I was startled, delighted, and astounded to see a room filled with 4 ping-pong tables with 4 people at each (doubles?) whirling the ping-pong balls back and forth at lightning speed! There was a fury of clicking sounds as each ball was feverishly struck by a paddle only to be flung across the table within what seemed like a millisecond! The sound in the air was like the clippety-clop of a team of horses running down a path.
I have never learned to play ping-pong. I have tried it in the past, and yet, really left to my own devices, have never been very good at it. I don’t think it’s my eye-to-hand coordination that’s the issue; I think it’s just that I figured I wasn’t going to be able to “get the hang of it”, so I have never learned the proper way to play. This past week’s ‘ping-pong experience’ really had me thinking about the art of learning something new, taking yourself out of your comfort zone, and giving it a whirl for the sheer joy of it! It doesn’t really matter what the outcome is, because I think it really is more about the process, the intention of learning, and what that brings to the table (in my ping-pong example, ‘literally’ to the table).
Ah, I didn’t mention something important. Everyone at the ping-pong tables was at least 80 years ‘young’ and up!!
Ah, the joy of learning something new. Grab a paddle and let’s start the pinging and ponging! 🙂
The Chicago Files 