I love tennis so much, but I came to the point in my life where I realized it’s ALL I seem to talk about with anyone! Luckily my wife is very tolerant of my passion, and she partakes in the love of the game as well, but lately I’ve been thinking of some things I can get into to diversify my interests a bit. I already do a fair bit of running and biking, as it keeps me fit when I get on the tennis court (see, there I go again!). My kid is already out of the house and at university, so it’s not like I have a lack of time on my hands. I was recently thinking about taking music back up as a hobby. I used to play piano and guitar when I was younger. I was much better suited to the linear nature of piano playing. The fret board on the guitar really confuses me to this day!
I love listening to classical music. Oh that reminds me, I recently upgraded my Pandora subscription to Pandora One, so I don’t get the ads anymore. Seriously, make the small investment of about $6 per month. It really improves Pandora vastly. Plus, I feel like that allows you to skip more songs and just do more things with it.
Back to what I was saying, I listen to a lot of classical music, I find it extremely soothing. I bet taking up the piano again would be pretty fun, especially since I’m not starting from zero. The frustrating thing about instruments like piano, and drums (which my son plays) is that they are not portable. I have no interest in picking up a gigantic, heavy piano. I’ve been doing some research on the best digital piano to get and it turns out they are as light as 18-20 lbs, and I have no need for a bulky stand - a simple keyboard stance will suffice. I’m pretty excited about this!
Anyhow, getting a big sidetracked but the point is, tennis players tend to OBSESS. I’m not sure if other sports fans obsess to this level, but seriously, spend some time at the tennis warehouse message boards, and you’ll know what I mean: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php
I don’t want to have an unhealthy obsession for any one thing, especially one like tennis that at my age is not bringing in income. In fact, quite the opposite, I spend a good bit of money on the sport! New shoes, clothes, club fees, nutrition, fees to play in local tournaments, gas money to drive to said tournaments, ball machine (which reminds me I should do a post about my ball machine)… and yes, buying a new musical instrument is expensive too, but I also feel that’s a one-time thing I can do and reap the benefits for a very long time!
OK, well, I’ll end this rant here. Diversify your interests, and take a really long look in the mirror to see if you’re obsessing, and perhaps it’s affecting the relationships around you. Just a self improvement tip! See, I can write about more than just tennis… 😉