My husband and I joined a summer bowling league back in May. I had reservations about joining because I don’t bowl worth a toot, but our neighbors assured us the league was just for fun. And it has been fun! Surprisingly, I am on the list of bowlers with the “Most Improved Average,” which isn’t saying much considering my average was pretty low to begin with. I’m just happy when I bowl a score of 80.
The last few weeks, my game has been slightly improving, although I am consistently inconsistent, at best. I actually bowled a turkey one night (if you’re like me, and don’t have a clue what that means, it’s three strikes in a row).
So, this past Wednesday night, I started out as usual — poorly. I threw a gutter ball, and someone from the other team commented that the ball had gotten stuck on my thumb. I laughed and told him maybe so, but that I really didn’t know a thing about bowling. He replied, “I can tell.” Well, as if I wasn’t already self-conscious enough about being one of the worst bowlers on the league, now I had someone from another team watching and commenting on my performance.
For two straight games, I couldn’t shake off his comment. I bowled as poorly as if it were my first time bowling. The more I thought about his comment and tried to prove him wrong, the worse I bowled. My husband and my neighbors kept encouraging me to relax and have fun, but I couldn’t move past that comment.
