Vitamin Serve

I like tennis. Though I may be a blundering idiot on the court, I persist in believing that someday, I'll learn the skills needed to handle that ball with the reflexes of a hyperactive cat.

In the mean time, though, I practice.

I get rare opportunities to do this. In fact, it's probably been several months since I last stepped onto a court with my instructor (who also happens to be my husband). So this past Thursday, despite the chill and the wind, I cheerfully grabbed hold of my racket nd decided to perfect my technique.

Unfortunately, my decision proved useless.

As usual, I blundered about. The highlight of the session was chasing a rabbit behind the tennis court (where we had to forrage for all the balls I'd lobbed high over the fence.) But the tennis lesson proved valuable in other, less tangible ways - ways that make me very glad I chose to play.

See, I learned a lot about service while I played my game. I served the ball a lot - since it took a hundreds of tries to get it over the net. Later, nursing one very sore forearm, I thought about the amount of effort it takes to perform a decent serve ... and I realized that this applies to the less athletic mode of service as well.

How many of us enjoy the warm happy feeling that manifests itself when we have done something to serve someone else? It's lovely - it's addicting! I thnk we'd all enjoy creating that feeling on a daily basis if we could. But the trouble here is that, at least in my case, laziness roadblocks my efforts.

You see, serving my fellow men, women, and children usually entails some form of exertion on my own part. While I may ask my husband how I can serve him today, I always hope he won't ask me, to, say, rake the whole back yard - or give him a nice, long back rub. His back is huge, and my hands are not! That's an act of service that could take me an hour!

But who cares! Just like perfecting my serve on the court, there has to be a few pains for my effort in order to achieve the desired reward. Maybe I don't really want to rub that huge back - or practice my terrible serve one more time. But when I do ... even though I may feel the energy-sapping backlash for days ... I'll also enjoy knowing I've accomplished that which I most wanted to do.

Whether it's honoring the one that I love, helping someone who'll never be able to thank me, or changing the kitty litter in my own home, service is as rewarding and effort-worthy to perform as the kind that I'm learning in tennis.

And usually ... thank God ... it doesn't give me sore forearms.