Arguing For Your Your Limitations

I was having a relatively poor night of bowling last season when a guy on another team told me that I shouldn't feel so bad because it was the lanes, and not me, that were causing my low scores.

Imagine that, someone else wanting to make excuses for my inability to knock the pins down.

Like all "out-of-the-ordinary" statements that are made to me, I started paying attention to see how much more of those types of remarks I could pick out.

I'm figuring you already know the results of my informal observations, correct? Too many.

People seem all to willing to make excuses FOR you.

Is it any wonder that most of us bowlers find it so hard to focus and concentrate on our own efforts?

We are having a tough enough time trying NOT to argue for our limitations; but, at the same time, other people are counter-acting our thoughts by arguing FOR them.

Is that a dilemma or what?

Richard Bach, the novelist, wrote, "Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours."

I wonder if he knew that there are people out there who are, "Willing to argue your limitations FOR you so that, sure enough, you make them yours?"

I'd venture to say that in the elite bowler ranks, Professional Women and Men, National and International Champions, and so on, are not having to face as much negative talking and thinking like we, at the local level, do every day.

The key point is that they're "elite" bowlers because they have learned to think positively "all the time."

(I'd venture to say, also, that if a bowler does not think positively, he or she will have a very difficult time making it to the "elite" bowler status.)

What can you do, at the local level, to keep your mind from arguing for your limitations?

Funny you should ask, as I have a "Choc-List" right here for you:

1) Be Decisive - Make a decision that you will shut off any negative words or thoughts. You get to be a better bowler by thinking positively and shutting out negativity. "Where there's a will, there's a way" and your will determines what you focus your attention on. You're the one who controls it.

2) Be Aware - Make a study of what not to say or think about. Write down, right now, all the words and phrases that could prevent you from thinking positively. Pay attention to direct or indirect statements that reflect the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. By cementing them in your mind, you'll be able to keep them out of your thoughts and spot them coming out of someone else's mouth. Keep updating your list as you think of them or if you hear them.

3) Be in the Present - What's happened to you in the past is of no consequence to what you're doing at this moment. So what if you shot a low game or series last time? Chances are, the only person that remembers the exact score is you. Ask around and you'll see what I'm saying is true. The future hasn't come yet. Are you clairvoyant? Do you have a track record for being able to predict and control the future? Admit that the only time you can ever control is right now. Don't live in the past nor be afraid of the future.

4) Become A Better "Mental" Bowler - There are many disagreeable things that local-level bowlers have to put up with. Overcoming them as you move to becoming a better bowler is a great feeling that you can savor each step along the way.

I am going to paraphrase another well-known saying, "Magic is the opposite of Bowling. When you know how magic works, the magic goes away, With Bowling, when you know begin to look for how it works, the magic begins."