Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Search for Nadia Petrova's Missing Motivation and Drive

Is it just me? Because I don't get stuff like this.

Nadia Petrova lacks enthusiasm and is pondering a career change. Okay, but what's this?

Even a week of unorthodox training on a grass court maintained by a Swedish farmer may not be enough to inspire depressed Russian Nadia Petrova to start enjoying her tennis.

I'm sorry, but enjoying a thing is something that happens to you. You don't MAKE yourself enjoy anything. You can't be "inspired" to enjoy anything. No amount of effort in the world will make you enjoy something you don't enjoy.

I think this foggy thinking comes from too much acting in life - pretending you feel a certain way or enjoy a certain thing when you don't. You lose touch with your real feelings and get stuck behind the Looking Glass in the Land of Pretend. And when some pretense becomes too hard to maintain, then you say nonsense like this.

Why should a week on the only grass court in Sweden inspire anyone to anything? Yes, variety is the spice of life, but if you have no hunger, spice won't make you eat. If you enjoy eating, spice can make you enjoy it more, but that's all.

Petrova, daughter of a pair of former world-class Russian athletes who grew up in Egypt, said she is desperate to re-discover her drive.

"I'm searching for motivation," said the woman who claimed her last trophy in February indoors in Paris.

(Translation: Presumably the author meant that Nadia grew up in Egypt, not her parents.)

She "can't find" her drive, motivation"? If she can't find it, she doesn't have it.

Hint: motivation is in the reward. If playing tennis is less than rewarding overall, she won't be motivated to play.

The Russian said that she might need to find other interests, which could spark a renewal of her game — or she could consider just handing in her career.

How could other interests spark a renewal of her game?

I'm not certain how much I like tennis right now.

How can she not know that?

I still haven't achieved all of my goals and dreams.

Newsflash: maybe you never will. Most people don't. It ain't all up to you, you know.

Maybe there's some oppressive entity in her life responsible for this depression and all she needs to do is chuck it. But if not, why not just quit? Most people wouldn't like playing tennis for a living.

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1 Comments:

At 2:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Petrova was probably motivated my money and freedom trying to escape Russia.

Now when her materialistic desires have been met, she cannot get in touch with her deeper needs or desires because all her life she was blinded by opinions of her mentors and peers.

Perhaps she has even lost the hunger to win which is usually just ego. So that may be good for her personal growth.

What makes everyone happy is to be useful to other people.

And since her life has only been about ME, ME, ME (tennis being extremely egoistic sport), she can't really find a way to think about other people and how to serve them with her knowledge.

Maybe she could start a tennis blog or a website? ;)

 

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