Day 35: Far, Far Away

This post is coming to you from
"Far, Far Away" because that is where my mind is,
or rather that is where it must be,
because it certainly is not on pool.

Samm called me out yesterday, at 5:30pm,
for 10pm on Sunday night, my choice of pool halls,
and to bring my video recorder to tape the event.
That gave me 4 and a half hours to prepare,
but I did not prepare for this match in the way I should.

Instead, I had too big a meal (Chipotle)... yum!),
and wasted time watching a monster thunderstorm go by
(I love the thunder and lightning).
I did not go through my pre-match routine,
did not meditate, did not rest, did not stretch.
Nada, zip, zilch, zero.
What can I expect from such a lakadaisical attitude
except poor play on my part, and defeat?

And that's exactly what happened.
I certainly played poorly, according to my own standards,
but I was very lucky to have won the first set
after struggling to hill-hill.
The second set we agreed to shorten to a race to 5
instead of the customary 7 games
because the pool hall was closing and wanted us OUT,
so they could go home.
I was all in favor of that, just to stop the madness,
because I was missing balls my little sister would make.
My mind was all over the place, even thinking about
how I would have to admit all this in my blog today.
Samm won the second set, so we split for the day.

Am I taking our matches for granted?
Has Samm become a friend instead of a deadly enemy?
Am I just getting sloppy?
Where is my discipline?
Am I playing TOO MUCH POOL? (is there such a thing?)

I do know one thing for sure,
trying to shoot pool at 2am is a real challenge for me.
My whole schedule is completely shifted.
It's not like a simple time zone change (jet lag)
which I can adjust to in a couple of days.
Rather, this is a shift of my whole light/dark rhythm.
Note: do research on "circadian rhythms".
When I wake up at noon, because I got to sleep at 4am,
I have missed at least 5 hours of sunlight that
I have been used to for most of my lifetime.

But that would be only a part of it.
I must get back into pre-match routines which I
have established and which will work for me.
I must treat every opportunity to shoot pool as
an extraordinary event, and to prepare for it,
and to treat every shot in the same way.

Meanwhile, I'll take a bit of a break, do some reading.
I brought three books with me:
Point The Way, by Timothy Miller ("The Monk")
The Pro Book, by Bob Henning
The Advanced Pro Book, by Bob Henning
All three books have excellent material on the mental game.

During this break from competition,
I'll visit with a couple of friends in the area.
Art, my flying buddy and wingman on our USA Tour
(see my Biplane Adventures)
and Scott, who was on my board of advisors of my TeleMagic software adventure.

And during this little break,
I will have some time to get my rhythms back in sync,
to exercise, meditate, and consider again the
Meaning of Life, and Pool.