THWACK!
by Val Leichtman
Thwack! The paddle hits me and I fly backwards. I bounce on the green table, echoing hollowly. Thwack! The second paddle hits me in the face, I spin and fly back in the other other direction. Disoriented, I graze the net with my bottom, flying off the side at an angle. Suddenly a paddle is below me, ready to lob me in the air. Thwack!
—
Ever feel like a ping-pong ball? Ever find yourself in a situation between two or more people and feel like you’re the go-between, being thwacked in every single direction? I used to feel this way all the time, especially with my family. I would get thwacked in one direction by my father and then get thwacked in another by my mother. At times I felt like it really was a game they enjoyed playing.
Through my coaching at BOWA and my own dedication to my personal growth, I have learned to rarely play the role of the ping-pong ball in my family’s drama. There are still times when I fall back into the bad habit and allow myself to get thwacked once or twice, but usually after the second thwack I simply get up and walk away.
And you know what? It’s awfully hard to play a game of ping pong without the ball.
JUL