Note: this piece was written on Friday, the 20th of March, 2021.
Today, I was watching my husband (yes, you read that right), my brand-new, gorgeous, troll of a husband prepping himself a day prior, exuding excitement of a child’s to arrange himself for his Friday rituals.
I typically only see Naren this happy when he is all set or getting prepped to play cricket. Of course, he loves sport, and all kinds of it. He’s supremely fervent about a lot of mediums of sport but cricket – cricket is a league of its own. No one and nothing come close to how he feels about this particular sport.
He looks forward to it all week, preparing himself, either over net sessions, or his self-serving ball machine, or even arranging all of his cricket equipment to keep prepping for his weekend warrior-ing.
I don’t think I have ever witnessed hunger, drive, or madness like this where he keeps pushing forward giving his all, every single time, every single day.
There were days I didn’t understand this madness, because I never had anything that kept me battling like the way cricket does for him - until I discovered something I love, very much, and very recently amidst this pandemic. Less about me, and more about the core of what I am here to talk about.
What is it about things that you love that don’t allow you to give up?
How is it that you persistently keep trying, coaching yourself strongly even though in your mind you are sure to possibly fail, but you keep on going because you don’t know any other way other than the one that your mind is pushing you to? How do you love something so much that you refuse to give up? You could come very close to giving up but just when you’re about to, your heart and your mind, and sometimes both coax you to get up once more and keep going.
How do you keep on loving?
There are days, like today, where I joined Naren to his second game of the day (it is currently 2:33pm on a Friday afternoon) and he’s already played two games. From last night, where he stickered his bats to packing his kit bag methodically to waking up at 5:00am. I watched him all excited, opening for his team, Stallions versus the Emirates NBD corporate team at this beautiful turf ground at The Rugby Sevens. He walked in, saying that he wishes to score a minimum of fifty runs. He even touched the ground to his chest before entering the ground (which was a shocker for me), and he placed himself across his batting partner all ready to absolutely kill it.
As the game started, I saw him being patient and taking doubles (even if it meant he didn’t get to bat) as long as the team could score more run – until sometime in the second over, hardly twelve balls into the game, and he was out. That’s it.
A week of wait, a week of prepping, a week of training, a week of clean eating, a week of excitement, almost only three hours of sleep the previous night and all it took was less than twelve balls, a split second, and he was out.
Out.
As I saw him walk out of the pitch, slowly ungloving and looking down – away and then down again – absolutely disheartened. He reached the waiting area where I and his teammates were sat and threw his gloves down in frustration. He sat down, and in less than a minute later, he says,
“I was trying something different; I have gotten out the exact same way before in Bombay, and the bowler placed his strategy well. I will do better the next time.”
And just like that in no time, he continued cheering away for his teammates that were doing well, consoled the ones that got out and sat with all of them discussing the game that they all loved.
It’s 3:18pm and he’s still sat there with them, joking, bantering and being bantered about how each of them performed. He shook it off, took it in his stride, and I know he’s already mentally prepping for the next week already.
I don’t know any of his teammates, but they all seem like a lot that possibly practice the same, or similar routines that my husband does. I just heard someone say, “no one is above the game.” It’s the one thing that they all share in common, and is their getaway, perhaps escape from the day-to-day monotony of life.
So here I am sat, thinking, what is it about the thing that you love that makes it near impossible to give up on – no matter how difficult it gets? No matter how incredibly out of reach it feels, and no matter how exhaustingly it consumes you?
That’s the thing about love – not just about the people that you love but the thing that make life fuller, richer and more wholesome. You just keep on going without giving up because what would life be without your drive? Without that daily motivation to keep you battling, pushing, falling, getting up and showing up.
This one is dedicated to the love of my life, my inspiration, and my weekend warrior who never gives up and I absolutely love him for it.
With love,
Stories By Giggles