Being in a new place for only a 6-month period of time, I’m not really able to fully develop a lot of friendships that I normally have. It’s because of my personality. It takes time for me to get to know people, get to know my surroundings. It’s just how I am. Because of this, I haven’t had the ability to really come back to one of my passions: Bowling.
It started when I was a little kid. I grew up joining a bowling league at the Naval Air Station bowling alley in Corpus Christi. I bowled there, I bowled at the old bowling alley in Flour Bluff and I even tried bowling at the Ayers bowling alley that was clear across town. Wherever it was, I ended up really becoming passionate with bowling and taking my game to another level. It was something that really helped me develop confidence, discipline, and reward as my average kept going higher and higher. I had the chance to keep in a couple of different tournaments and I continued to have fun playing the game.
I also have fond memories of playing with the Commissary Bagging crew back in the day when I worked at the Commissary on base. We would always go and bowl. There would be multiple trips to the crane machine and we would get into all kinds of chaos and mischief. Some of the best memories I had were simply of being in a bowling alley with those friends back in the day.
Fast forward to sort of present day. I went to college, one of the first clubs I joined was the bowling group in my dorm for intramural sports. That was something that was exciting and although I wasn’t as good as everyone else, I had a great time anyway. My friends also threw me an awesome surprise party with an awesome cake that was bowling theme.
Anyway I’ve digressed a little bit from my main message but tonight was the first time in awhile that I’ve been able to go bowling. It reminded me of these memories and just how much I love bowling. I could literally do this for hours (and I have with my friend Becker who we have a tendency to do 10-12 games when there’s unlimited bowling).
I was also able to take my experience and passion and help a friend gain more confidence and increase her scores at bowling. The simple act of being able to come back to my passion, share the experience with others and get that mindset, it ignited such a positive experience for me and I’m thankful for that.
There are times that I think maybe I should be simple, go bowling all the time and just teach it. Getting back in that frame of mind is the ultimate form of relaxation. It allows you to maintain a healthy mental state and refreshes you. Go back to your passions, they will help you remember what the good things in life are and help you get back to where you need to be.
Bowling is really a passion to me and that passion can be contagious and can at least bring smiles and admirations on people’s faces. Besides.. what’s better than getting a strike? 🙂
-The Lermz