LESSONS FROM BOWLING

Today I had the experience of heading to the local bowling alley. Being school holidays, it was jam packed full of school kids. The four playing next to us with their mother (or one of the kids mother), each had two bowling balls each, meaning my brother and I were unable to put our bowling balls in the catchment area. Well, it was three years previous that my two younger brothers and I went bowling, and today, it was just me and my youngest brother Jeff. I am sure that I am getting progressively worse at this game. When I was younger, I could consistently get over 200. Today I struggle, but still manage to break the 100 mark. Today, I found out something. I must be the only person on the planet who is able to bowl a strike, and follow it up by hitting the gutter on the next two balls. But, not just any gutter. Somehow I managed to send it down the right, and just before the ball hits the pins, it somehow falls off into the right gutter. Then, I do the exact same thing, except on the left hand side. In the first game, my brother hit a strike on the first ball. It was the only time he lead in the game, until we got to the very last frame, when he suddenly remembered how he got his first strike, and BANG! BANG! BANG! Three strikes in a row! So he managed to win the game. Second game, I managed two strikes. Due to my consistancy in being unable to capitalise on these strikes, I still managed to lose the game to my brother. He didn't mange one strike at all. (Though he did have quite a few spares). Third game I switched to a lighter ball. When I was younger, all balls were black, except the kiddie ones. Now it seems all the balls, regardless of weight, are some fluro pink, orange or green colour. There was also something else which was new. There was a huge video screen in the middle of the bowling alley, just above the middle lanes. It was playing stuff from the seventies and eighties (memories of the days when I was good at this game). Well, by this stage the kiddies in the next lane had finished. I noticed their scores were well below ours, so I didn't feel so stupid, even though I had been rather consistant in hitting the gutter a number of times. Then, my game got the boost it needed. Two girls turned up to replace the kiddies. By this stage I had got rid of eight balls the kids had been using. With the resetting of the lanes, three other balls suddenly appeared which the kids had been using These they had thrown at the remaining pins after their game had finished and because their game had finished, they hadn't been recycled. So, the girls arrived, and suddenly I hit THREE STRIKES in a row! BANG! BANG! BANG! WOW! So by the sixth frame I was almost at one hundred. My brain was also convincing myself that the arrival of girls was a stupid reason for me to suddenly start playing good ... and BANG! ... one ball down the right and into the gutter.! Darn! Followed by BANG! One ball down the left and into the gutter. Ah! My true form returns! Darn you brain for thinking this through logically. Why didn't you stay out of this, and leave it to my libido to decide. I managed to hit a strike on my last frame, (followed by some misses), which stuck me into the mid-hundred range, and two points above my brother to win the final game. Some morales to this story: One, don't let your brain talk you out of something which is working! Why mess it up with logic? If it works, run with it, don't over analyse it till you lose your advantage. Two, when life throws you something like a "strike" which you can capitalise on, darn well capitalise on it. Chucking two gutterballs right after was probably lack of concentration on my behalf (or a self destructive streak I have), or in one case, the ball hitting my leg ... which is poor technique ... probably caused by lack of concentration! Still, I didn't take advantage of a situation which would/could/should have won me the game. No need to cry about it though, after losing a game, it is time to reflect in order to improve oneself. In this case, I need to LEARN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A SITUATION. Three, lack of practice has really destroyed my game. I thought it might come back as I went along, but it didn't. Maybe if I did it every week, I may improve to the point of being good again. I always used to give people some advice. Choose a few things to be good at that you enjoy doing, and keep at them. You'll become good. If you happen to find you are really bad at something you have chosen, enjoyment is the only reason to continue. If you are not enjoying it, give up and try something else, but for goodness sack, make sure you DO choose something to be good at. Stick with it if you have to, but if you enjoy it, you should find it isn't a chore to practice. Four, was it value for money? The price of three games (which came as a deal with free coke and six tokens to play the arcade games), was forty dollars. My copy of "The Sims" game cost just as much, and has provided more enjoyment and lasted a lot longer. In fact, it is still going. I am convinced that one of the reasons bowling (and other similar activities) are on the decline, is that cheaper more satisfying activities are available to the average citizen. (In fact, I have several ten dollar games which have provided longer and greater enjoyment). Admittedly, we went to play because my brother wanted to get out of the house. Not too bad a thing to do. Especially as he is on holidays (again), and wanted to feel like he'd done something. Well, now he's done something and got out of the house. That need is satisfied. Time for me to get stuck back into my study and get a good mark. Why? Well, I need to follow my own advice: One, though I am not in the mood at the moment to study, I can sit here and rationalise it out. I could decide that maybe some more leisure might make me want to study ... but deep down, I know that there is no time like the present to get stuck into my study. "Just Do It" as Nike says. No need to sit down and over analyse the fact that I need to study. I do! Two, time for me to take advantage of a situation. I have TIME at the moment to improve myself with study. Why not take advantage of it while it is here? If I procrastinate over it, something may come up when I do need to study. LET'S TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION. Three, practice of these things I am studying for (whether I enjoy them or not) will make me better. Four, wasting valuable study time is NOT value for money. I paid to do my degree and other courses etc. The best way to get value for money, is to get stuck into the work and get it done. Amazing how three fast bowling games today has lead to me hopefully getting my CCNA. Oh well, time to study. Ciao!