Justine Henin back on form
Posted by sky | Tags: Sports, tennis, zen
"What I'm trying to do now is live right now, without being concerned about what will happen in two days." There's a Zen concept called "beginner's mind." As a beginner, you're receptive and see everything fresh. You're amenable to suggestion. You take things at face value. Conversely, the more you know, the more opinions and habits you form and the more you close yourself off. As Shunryu Suzuki puts it: In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few. Henin is certainly expert at what she does for a living, but now she's back at work while navigating a new reality. Perhaps she's taking a beginner's look around and seeing things she blocked out before. She seems more relaxed. She smiles more readily. She might still be too wary to reveal her mantra, but there's a lot less barbed wire around her. It must be interesting to compete without it. "I don't know, 2007 is different for me," Henin said. "I just try to enjoy every moment of my life. Not try to project myself too far in the future, and forget a little bit of what happened in the past. Just, I feel lucky to do what I love so much. I feel lucky to take my decisions and try to move forward. I feel very happy about that now." Can Henin retain this new serenity against the rampaging Serena Williams in Saturday's final? This is truly the battle of the back stories. (from ESPN.com)Does Henin regrets that 2003 French Open semifinal match against Serena? Maybe, that will really tell us whether she is moving forward. Previous Post Next Post