Metaphor
I thought of a way to describe to Eli 16.7 how games unfold.Expectations are performance killers. Expectations of how a game should go, expectations of how you should perform. Expectations of fairness. Anything not focused on the present--without comparison--interferes with an athlete's ability to perform at the highest level.
It's a trap almost everyone falls into, including Eli.
"Here's a metaphor," I said.
"Uh-oh," Eli said, laughing. "Go ahead."
"A game is like a rope," I said.
"Explain that."
"There is a rope in front of you, and it's nearly the same length every time," I said. "You know that every length of the rope will have knots, but they will be always be in different places, because no two ropes are exactly the same. You pull on the rope and look for the knots, and when you find them, you dissolve them."
"Untie them?" he asked.
"Not exactly," I said. "This is more of a Zen thing. You seek the knots, and you focus until they fall away."
"Wow," he said. "That's actually good."
"A happy accident," I said.
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