Marie-Hélène Budworth

It is a big day in the Budworth household.  My youngest son is turning 6 years old AND Roanic is playing in the Davis Cup for Canada.  Pretty exciting times.  So the questions is – what do I Blog about?  My child or tennis – two things that I have consciously chosen to focus on during my sabbatical.  Unfortunately for Aidan, after spending many hours and countless dollars preparing loot bags, bouncy castles, and Phineaus & Ferb cupcakes I am all birthday partied-out; but tennis I can go on about forever.  

During this research leave year, one of my main goals has been to get back in shape.  My schedule is far more flexible so if there is any time where it was going to happen, it would have to be now.  Well, anyone who knows me would know that I don’t do things part way.  If I am in, I am in!  Tennis is no exception.  I took up the sport as a pathway to fitness.  It has now become a part of my lifestyle and by extension, my family’s.  We now travel with tennis racquets and spend a great deal of our ‘entertainment’ budget on tennis courts and lessons.  It is outstanding.  The beauty of the sport is that you can learn and improve in noticeable ways.  There are frequent opportunities for increases in self-efficacy either through positive feedback or enactive mastery (smalls wins).  

I had forgotten how wonderful it feels to develop a new skill.  Do you remember, as a child, the feeling that accompanied learning something new?  Really learning it?  It was often followed by a ‘self-esteem’ high.  Well I don’t believe I had felt that for years.  As adults there just is not an opportunity to learn something completely new.  We are almost always building on old knowledge sets.  That can be rewarding as well but to completely break into something unknown – well that is pretty amazing.  

So tonight while my 6 year old jumps in an inflatable jumpy castle with 10 of his closest friends, I will be hovering around the computer in my kitchen watching Roanic make tennis history for Canada.  I belong to a new club.  I can watch tennis as someone who plays tennis.  And I can enhance the positive feelings of ability and achievement while sipping wine and eating cake.