I am addicted to pickleball. I play three or four times a week. But there is one person in my group that drives me crazy. We are all just playing for fun and fellowship, but this individual is bossy and critical, and when this person starts losing, becomes hyper-sensitive about rules and starts calling out folks for extremely minor things the rest of us just ignore.
Sometimes I get so frustrated with this individual that I start to play badly. Recently, another one of our players put his arm around me and told me to just relax, just tune troublemakers out. Ignore them. Don’t give them the satisfaction of ruining your fun and joy. Don’t let their issues become your issues.
That’s pretty good advice in all aspects of life. Try your best to focus on the positive and the productive. Let the naysayers, the critics and the malcontents wallow in their own pessimism. There will always be those who would rain on your parade. Let their rain fall only on them.
I’ll be repeating that to myself the next time I’m on the court.