I’m an avid tennis player, and I like to work on my game whenever possible. So I practice. I drill. I play doubles and singles – anything to make me a more well-rounded player.

But like anyone who plays sports knows, the game can really get inside my head.

When it’s showtime – during a match – it’s really easy to get hung up on the last error I made. It happens to a lot of players.

Once we screw up, it’s like we can’t forgive ourselves fast enough to move on and play our best, even though, in Someone Famous’s words (Bruce Lee?), every new point is an opportunity to win.

The quote sounds trite, I know. But it completely turned my game around by helping me let go of the last point and move on.

Lucky for me as I get older, a concussion from my junior year in high school makes my short-term memory even shorter, so that’s pretty helpful too.

By the next point, that error is all behind me. Once that next serve crosses the net and kicks off a new point, I’m all there and ready to play, with bells on.

Lesson learned: Every first chance deserves another – in tennis and in life. We don’t always get it right the first time – or there’d be no need for a second serve, right?

So I’m vowing to go easier on myself and on others. We can all use a little a do-over now and then.