You Find Your Confidence in Action
I shudder to think of the people and life I’d be missing out on if I was still waiting on the sidelines.
It was a Saturday morning in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I was sweating in the shade as I chatted with my new friend, Lisa. I was there to help her run a pickleball clinic for kids, never mind that I hadn’t played in years and remembered only the gist of the game.
It was just simply time to do something about my desire to get into pickleball.
What’s one of the dreams you’ve been wanting to get to? You’ve made loads of progress in your life and realized many of your dreams. But I bet you’ve got next goals to tackle: write a book, get out of debt, learn or develop that new hobby, enter a painting in the State Fair, start a business, leave the job, travel for a year. Or maybe you don’t even know what your dream is, but you know you want more living in your life.
Like I mentioned, I’d been wanting to get into pickleball. For oh, only a couple years.
I’d dabbled in the game before—nothing at all serious—and someone else had always instigated the party.
Now I wanted to get more into it, for myself.
But I was intimidated, didn’t have anyone to get into it with, would tell myself I wasn’t that interested, didn’t know exactly where to go or who to talk to or what to do. I told myself that everyone who was already playing knew what they were doing with it, and it was too late or hard to join in. You know, the usual suspects that sideline us.
And so I let the months and years tick by.
Of course I, like you, was making headway on other goals and was “off the sidelines” in other areas, but when it came to pickleball I was solidly parked on the sidelines. Actually, I wasn’t even on the sidelines. I wasn’t even showing up to the park. Figuratively and very literally in this case.
You could say I was preparing to get involved. Preparing to prepare or learning how to get involved. It’s wild how long that stage lasted and how we expect the confidence to come before we take action.
Getting off the sidelines
But something shifted in that gorgeous city of Wilmington.
Whether the right moment simply arrived, or I was finally ready, or my need for connection was great enough, we’ll never know. All I know is that I was in that gorgeous town for 2.5 weeks and needed ways besides church to meet and be around people. Working from home and doing solo creative work is isolating for this extroverted introvert, and I needed people!
An opportunity to help at the YMCA’s Healthy Families Day seemed like just the thing to ease me into the world of pickleball on my own two feet. No one else had signed up, and I thought they might be desperate enough to use this rookie’s services. I was right.
And I was right that it was just the thing to get me off the sidelines. Before the onslaught of kids came, Lisa and I chatted in the shade of a pop-up tent, sweaty me marveling at how North Carolinans aren’t phased by the humidity, and asking her all the questions about her life and about pickleball in Wilmington.
My interaction with her and “teaching” (I use that term loosely since, beginner) kids and families how to play the game was so dang fun that I left thinking, “I’ve just got to find a way to do more of this.”
That led to playing at an indoor facility later in the day. That led to me playing three times the next week at the beginner-friendly park recommended by Lisa. Most everyone was better than me, and most were very encouraging. Even the obviously-better-than-me, shirtless guy with the zebra stripe tattoos covering his entire back and chest was mostly helpful.
These mostly positive experiences in Wilmington have launched me into playing in multiple cities and on multiple courts in some cities, watching tournaments, learning how each city handles the sport. I’ve met and continue to meet great people, many of which I’m still in touch with.
I’m getting out of my head, enjoying being more active, and building confidence in a new skill. I laugh a lot more and spend more time outside, both things the Surgeon General would approve of, methinks. And it is unexpectedly leading to some new business opportunities and potential collaborations and…honestly, only the future will tell exactly where my new participation in this game will take me.
I shudder to think of the people and life I’d be missing out on if I was still on the boring sidelines, waiting to get into the game. Turns out I just needed enough confidence to take one step toward the court, and the rest is taking care of itself.
Takeaways, if you’re into that sort of thing:
Start taking seriously something you’re curious about. Even if, or especially if, it doesn’t fit into what you’re already doing. You’re curious about it for a reason.
Dedicate even 15 minutes to researching the first step of the thing. Lurk near the space, ask questions, find someone who’s doing the thing and ask to tag along.
Commit yourself to some part of it. Sign up to volunteer, book the intro lesson, buy the thing you need to get into it.
This post may sound like a testimonial for pickleball, and perhaps it is. But it’s also a testimonial for this: if there’s something you want to do or have been considering, it’s worth getting off the sidelines and (more fully) engaged in it. You never know how it will enrich your life, where it might take you, and the confidence you’ll build as you get involved.
What’s something you’ve been thinking about getting into? And what are you going to do to commit a part of yourself to some part of it? I’m all ears over here, so please share! Comments are open to all subscribers on this one, so comment away.
P.S. And if you do want to get into pickleball specifically, what questions do you have or what holds you back?