The Teacher Showed Up

There was a time when I played racquetball. I was very good at it. At least I thought I was very good at it until I played the state racquetball champion. His name was Carlos. I was practicing in a racquetball court hoping someone would show up and want to play and I could strut my stuff. Well, Carlos showed up and asked if I was looking for a game. Carlos let me serve first. It wasn’t long before Carlos won the serve and I never saw the serve again. Before the second game began Carlos turned to me and said, “Ray, do you mind if I play left handed?” I wasn’t offered a piece of humble pie. I was offered the whole pie. What could I say, he was the champ. The results were pretty much the same. We played one more game. He continued to play left handed. I had a good workout and I came home with a story. The lopsided loss I took was easy to take. Carlos wasn’t arrogant. He just wanted to get a workout in. I happened to be his workout. The moral of the story? Sometimes when you think you’re pretty good, someone shows up to teach you a lesson. My teacher showed up.