Choisir, ça change tout!

Du site de Andre Agassi Foundation for Education

Pendant mes vacances de fin d'année, j'ai eu la chance de tomber sur l'autobiographie d'André Agassi, "Open". Étant fan d'Agassi depuis sa victoire à Wimbledon en 1992, non seulement pour son tennis, mais aussi pour son exemple de persévérance, ce livre faisait partie de ma liste "à lire absoluement."
Imaginez ma joie quand j'ai lu, vers la fin de son livre, comment il a découvert cette règle de vie dont je parle aussi dans mon livre, "Thank God for antidepressants!" Choisir, ça change tout! Figurez vous qu'Agassi avait toujours détesté le tennis! Depuis la petite jeunesse jusqu'à sa trentaine. Il l'a subi. C'était le choix de son père. Et quand il a évoqué l'idée de changer de métier avec son père, ce dernier lui dit: tu ne sais rien faire d'autre. Mais dans les dernières années d'une carrière professionnelle qui s'est étendue sur 19 ans, il a décidé de la choisir pour lui-même. Dès lors il n'a plus subi sa vie, il l'a assumée, et du coup il a découvert une liberté et une décontration inconnue avant.
J'ai aussi été conduit sur ce chemin-là, et j'ai découvert que même pour les choses pour lesquelles je "n'avais pas le choix," je pourrais les choisir, les assumer, les accueillir. C'est le sujet du chapitre 9 de mon livre qui sortira en français, je l'espère, dans quelques mois.

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During my end of year holiday in England, I had the good luck to fall on Andre Agassi's autobiography, "Open." Having been a fan of Andre's ever since he won Wimbledon in 1992, not only for his tennis but also for his attitude, this book was definitely on my "wish list!" Imagine the fun of discovering near the end of his book, that he had discovered a life principle that I write about in my book, "Thank God for antidepressants!" Choosing changes everything. 

I found out that Andre had always hated tennis! From a very early age until in his early thirties; that's a long, long time. He endured it. It was his father who made the choice that he would be a world class tennis player. When one day Andre had the temerity to suggest he might like to do something else, his father said: there's nothing else you can do. But in those last year of his professional tennis career, which spanned 19 years, he decided to choose to play tennis for himself. From that moment on he no longer endured it, he took it upon himself, and the result was a freedom he had never known before.

I was also led to travel that road and I discovered that life principle even in things for which I seemed to have no choice. But I did: I could chose, take them on, embrace them. That's the subject of ch. 9 of my book, which has now been translated into French and will be published, I hope, in a few months time.