My partner and I signed up for tennis primarily because the senior games are played in the town in which we live. Otherwise, it probably never would have occurred to us. It was interesting to see the different approach of the pair of women we had to play in the Finals. They traveled from a long distance and stayed in the dorms for the week. Clearly, their plan of action for the Senior Games was maximum participation. To that end, they had signed up to play in table tennis, swimming, women's basketball, as well as women's tennis singles and doubles. Some who came to the senior games came dedicated to just one particular sport, specifically so they could go on to compete at the national level.
Our opponents approach to the week was clearly one of participation. To be perfectly honest, mine was one of competition. I was there for the exhilaration of competition. We did win handily against that team, and brought home a medal. I have discovered that I really love to compete--win, lose or draw. Maybe its the adrenalin that makes you feel really alive!
But the difference in our approaches makes me think about how people who live locally rarely participate or visit or take in the sights of their area the way tourists do. For instance, as a child, we traveled all the way from the deep south to see the Statue of Liberty, but since living in New York State for the past thirty years, I have not seen it once, except from the air.
There are no doubt countless "attractions" not very far from us that out-of-towners come a long distance to see and do, and we barely take notice. To put that into practice myself, I should put a couple of day trips on the calendar for sure. I know one place Gerry wants to go---predictably a motorcycle museum! We should make a point to do it this summer!
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