Tennis

[lisaford2]

Hi All, I am in a tournament tomorrow and asked the IC about taking a lesson beforehand. I have to drive 3 hours to the venue. My partner- it's doubles- will be there early so we'll have 30 minutes to warm up. But I felt like I might need more than that and was considering an hour with one of the pros at this club. I'm a bit obsessive and also will have to arrive A few hours ahead of time to fit this in. Then I'll be waiting 1.5 hours for my partner. Could go have lunch. Still a lot of doing around before tournament. My reading is 5 line 2 to 63. Waiting is good and I'm already there. Slightly confused.Lisa

 

[Liselle]

5.2
'Waiting on the sands, There are small words. In the end, good fortune.'

It does seem reasonable from the mere hexagram name to think this has something to do with all the waiting you'll be doing.

The relating hexagram 63 can be about something that's completed, or in the act of being completed, or a decision already made - have you pretty much already convinced yourself to do this?

Some thoughts and possibilities -

It strikes me that you did not receive line 5: 'Waiting with food and drink. Constancy, good fortune.' That would probably indicate you'd be able to relax during the waiting time, enjoy your lunch, etc. - waiting would be more or less pleasurable.

But instead you got line 2, "waiting on the sands." Standing on sand feels insecure, it's hard to get your footing because the sand shifts under you. When waiting feels like that, it might mean you'll feel uncomfortable and ill at ease during all the downtime - it will not be particularly pleasant. Against 63, you might feel you just want to get it over with. Or something like that.

Another possibility - your question was about taking a lesson. Since waiting time will inevitably come with that, and you're already concerned about it, it seems perfectly plausible that the reading is addressing the waiting. But, maybe the reading is talking about the lesson itself. Do you want to work on your footwork? Are you having trouble with that, is that what the lesson's for? If so, it might be saying this will be a good use of your time, and it's worth all the waiting around.

Or possibly - if the lesson is intended to be about something else - maybe you'll have some incidental trouble with your footwork during it, or you'll just feel insecure on your feet, or something like that. Maybe you'll be anxious about it during the downtime, whether it will be a problem during the tournament. The reading says it'll be okay in the end.

 

[Liselle]

I'm forgetting the "small words" part.

Possibilities I can think of:
- making small talk, possibly to fill up the downtime
- internal chatter. Waiting will make you nervous about the tournament; it'll all go round in your head.
- you'll have "words" with someone. Nothing major, maybe a small disagreement or irritability.
- etc.

 

[moss elk]

I'd take it easy before.
Bradford calls 5.2 'a day at the beach'
Get your warm up, but I wouldn't take the lesson that day.
(because what can happen is that instead of just playing your best, with what you already know, you'll find yourself trying to incorporate some new things that you may pick up, and you may perform badly because of that. You'll be in thinky mode instead of doing mode. This used to happen with me before Go tournaments: if I tried to study something new to me before a contest, it always threw my game off. Had best results when just relaxing beforhand.)

 

[lisaford2]

Thanks! I decided not to go so early and wait around. I know I will just get nervous. I'll do the warm up only. Also a friend of mine I'm a bit irritated with might be there and I didn't want to get into anything with him. Not that it would happen but could. Wow! It's amazing how insightful your analysis is. Thanks so much again!

 

[Liselle]

I'd take it easy before.
Bradford calls 5.2 'a day at the beach'
Get your warm up, but I wouldn't take the lesson that day.
(because what can happen is that instead of just playing your best, with what you already know, you'll find yourself trying to incorporate some new things that you may pick up, and you may perform badly because of that. You'll be in thinky mode instead of doing mode. This used to happen with me before Go tournaments: if I tried to study something new to me before a contest, it always threw my game off. Had best results when just relaxing beforhand.)

:bows:

What M.E. is saying here seems to fit perfectly with another possible meaning of 63, which is keeping a beginner's mind. That's good advice a lot of the time, but as he's saying, probably not right before a tournament!