The Journey

I was watching the video of Andre Agassi’s ITF Hall of Fame induction speech, and what caught my attention the most is when he quoted Nelson Mandela - from their personal conversation when they met once. I already know why he professed to hate tennis early in his life and now is thankful for it for everything that he now holds dear in life. I already know how his tyrannical father ruled his life but they are now at peace and he’s even thanked him for always telling him what to do when he was young. I already know how he describes tennis as the loneliest sport out there but how he makes analogies about every struggle, every strategy, every match to be a teacher of many things about how to deal with life itself. I already know how much he loves and adores his wife and children.

You only have to listen to him talk to see all these (starts at 10:11):

But what he said at the end, that Mandela told him that “There is difficulty in all human journeys. But there is nobility in just being a journeyer,” is something that stayed with me because I’ve always believed in that, although maybe not in those exact words. He told his children and all the children of earth to take this world that their parents are leaving them with and not just live it but improve on it. Inspiring stuff.

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are among my favorite people I only see on TV. Although it was their sport that shoved them to the spotlight (which is not a bad thing; looking at Steffi now in her 40s makes me want to look for diet pills that work and spend hours and hours at the gym), it is their humanity, and especially to me their success in surpassing their personal limitations by having perseverance, a lot of hard work, and a not just a little grand passion, that makes them such great role models. If I can take something from that, it makes me think that my own journey is not futile, regardless if my own achievements, milestones, and recognitions are far too miniscule in comparison. You cannot be everything, but you will always be a part of something. I can only hope that I can keep myself in the good parts and almost always contribute positively.