Tennis Courts in My Life

“But there’s a little . . . little, area . . . where I must rule myself. It’s very little—less to him than a tennis court”

Another diagnostic essay. We read A Man For All Seasons in my English class (I highly recommend it), and Sir Thomas Moore talks about the small portion of his life that he must be in charge of– his “tennis court”. So I thought about the tennis courts in my life, and this is what I came up with.

Today is my best day so far. I’m going to school in Hawaii, I’ve made some great friends, I have the best English teacher on campus, I had a delicious breakfast this morning, all of my classes went well today, and now I have the opportunity to write a diagnostic essay. With all these blessings, plus an innumerable amount more, every day is my best day so far. I’ve made this my motto sine I read a book of that title, written by a hero of mine, George Durrant. I’ve come to believe that the only thing in life that is completely up to me is my attitude. That is the tennis court I have full control over. My attitude determines how I feel about everything that happens every day, and it’s up to me to make or break my day. My goal has been to always have a positive attitude, and I’ve found that by that choice, I am happier and better able to serve others.

Attitude is absolutely a choice. Sister Hinckley said, “there are two choices in life. you can choose to laugh or cry. I choose to laugh; crying gives me a headache.” I choose to laugh! I choose to have an attitude of wanting to help others and serve the Lord: a missionary-minded attitude. And attitude of gratitude. An attitude to try to make the day of each person I talk to their best one so far. I’ve discovered that it’s often easier to choose the other way. Negative thoughts are natural, and it’s sometimes satisfying to complain about hard assignments and tests and teachers and bad food and homesickness and any number of others things. But the only result of dwelling on negativity is misery. (And perhaps a headache.)

The catch with this tennis court, this important part of my life that I’m in charge of, is that the effects of my care for it don’t only affect me. Attitudes are very contagious, and it’s surprisingly easy to end up with a whole group of miserable people in a very short amount of time. Luckily, positive attitudes also spread, and the results are equally impressive. Elder Wirthlin taught us about “Come what may, and love it”, and I have tried to remember that and really try to love and accept everything that comes my way, including circumstance, people, and trials.

In my time here at BYU Hawaii, I have been placed in circumstances where complaining would have seemed very appropriate. It was hard to leave my friends and family in Provo, and it was hard to watch my parents leave a week after we got to Laie. My roommate turned out to be a very dramatic girl, and ended up insisting that I leave our room and find a new one so her friend could move in with her. But because I’ve decided to view my whole experience in Hawaii as preparation for my mission, my reaction to each of these hard times has been to learn, grow, and love everything that happens here. That is why today is my best day so far.