27/08/2026
On the Sunshine Coast we have wonderful beaches, little traffic, great homes and from the outside an enviable life...
but here's the truth I see more and more regularly... as soon as kids are able to they proudly work for pittance...
they let grades fall and happily swap stories of how little they make and how tough their work is.. this is honourable in their social circles...
Let's face it washing dishes, cleaning grease trays and waitress work is hard and mostly thankless... it sounds like they learn what an honest day feels like... or something like growing up, being responsible... but
They are not growing up. They are shrinking.
This is not ambition. This is a herd that has forgotten where the water is.
And tennis? Tennis is the loneliest mirror.
The court has no teammates to hide behind. No bench to share the loss. Just you, a ball, and a net that does not care about your excuses. To play well is to stand alone—lit, visible, judged. Most cannot bear it. So they quit or don't even begin...
But working for coin is easy... so is disappearing. Standing alone while the crowd watches—that is hard. That asks everything.
So they wash dishes. They serve tables. They tell themselves it is honest work. And it is. But it is also escape. Escape from the terror of finding more in what the world has and what they're capable of. Escape from the possibility of truly reaching and failure..
They never step on the court and lose badly and get up again. They never learn that losing is not the end...
The sad part is when you make the effort there is no failure... only the satisfaction of knowing you did the very best you could...
and that is everything...
