Pimms, balls and 10 life lessons

Rain and tennis while not the ideal ingredients for a fun day out, somehow take on a different dimension when you add the month of June to the mix and all because it’s Wimbledon! I spent nine hours within the SW19 enclosure happily turning my head from side to side often alternating between the shade of a colourful umbrella and the burning sensation of sun on the nape of my neck. I ate strawberries, drank Pimms and hung out with the crowd on Murray Mound (formerly Henman Hill) and quite frankly I don’t understand why we don’t all do a stint at Wimbledon. I think the atmosphere and the fun would work out even if you don’t like tennis.

And they’re lessons too!
Not only do you learn to pronounce the names of foreign players you also gain some valuable life lessons too.

Here are my top 10

1. Rain doesn’t stop play, it simply delays it for a while. And the key is you just have to be patient and keep going. A couple I was sitting next to decided to leave early because they were fed up with all the rain. Had they waited just a little longer they would have seen a full game with Tsonga, who at the time of writing is now in the quarter finals about to paly Murray.
2. Fun and laughter lighten the soul. In different circumstances incessant rain would have put a damper (pardon the pun) on things but myself and my companion saw past the ‘doom and gloom’ and really had a great time.
3. There is value in giving. I shared my umbrella with my friend who in turn gave her umbrella to a man she was sitting next to. He accepted, a little surprised at the gesture and then we all got talking.
4. People love to talk about themselves and their passions. We had lots of conversations with an eclectic mix of people who we would not ordinarily have struck up a conversation with.
5. Don’t be afraid to tell people if you see something that doesn;t look quite right. A lady standing in the queue behind me informed me that the label of my jumper was sticking out and put it back in for me, This kind gesture was followed by great banter until we walked through the gates and went our separate ways.
6. It’s okay to be outside of your comfort zone, in fact, I would recommend it!
7. Doing something you have never done before enriches life’s experiences.
8. We should all do Wimbledon at some point in our lives, just for the fun of it. Wimbledon is a cross between a refined garden party full of tradition and a no holds barred free for all coloured with grunts, cursing, screaming and ranting,
9. Sometimes we need to change the name of something to give it a new lease of life – Henman Hill to Murray Mound.
10. The Radar key is a God send I will never leave home without it. (If you don’t know what a Radar Key is you need to look that up!)