On kim Clijsters and the pursuit of happiness

Ok.

Let us start with why i am a big fan of Kim Clijsters

(Was reminded of her after yesterday's, what appears to be ugly, end to her match against Serena. More here )

Clijsters is typically my kind of doe-eyed dream girl - mature, quiet, unassuming, easygoing - while still being top of the game professionally (or always being nearly so, on a consistent basis)

Shes probably always runs about 10% below peak performance by not being overachieving, psyched, maniacal and volatile (Like some of these less talented Russian Divas, Guys like Marat Safin, heck even Serena)

All ive seen about her on TV and online are always Sweet - She always appears smiley faced & content - i havent EVER seen her looking flustered / breaking the odd racquet or fighting referees or using arrogant, intimidating body language (Like Federer, for eg.)

The point here is the importance of being happy, emotionally stable and consistent through the course of one's working, social life.

Over these last few months of living, working alongside my parents i realize how important it really is to give off the right emotional signals to people around you, to be non-volatile as much as possible and being a stabilizing influence overall.

Even if this means that there is a compromise on performance intensity - In nearly all cases, by how much you are off from peak performance / skillset levels (10% or 15% or 50%) does not really matter.

It is typical with people of our generation, age group - we tend to risk driving off the cliff just to attempt to push up another 10-15% in performance - and end up, more often than not, driving off the cliff. While people, who in your opinion, are only 50-60% as good as you are end up doing more mileage than you ever managed.

The whole scenario is a bit like a bunch of people driving a car (controlled by multiple people, a bit like an airplane, if you get the idea) upto a hill station. Most of these people you are born with. Some get on board en-route.

In the long term the key performance benchmark is mileage - and potential disruptive factors include - incompatibility amongst the group, emotional stability of the group as a whole and yes, to an extent skill levels of key persons.

We are, afterall, Social beings. Knowing fundae, performance, professional skillsets are just a few of the variables involved. Involving oneself in general activities, socialization, travel, so on and so forth - part of a pursuit of general happiness which, in the larger scheme of things, is FAR more important.

P.s I wonder if such rambling can be interpreted as a sign of maturity ?

P.s 2 - Another thing one MUST read. The brilliant Ladder theory (i mentioned it on twitter) - Fundae like this, especially involving basic analyses of the differences in male vs female thought processes make especially good reading. Educational, if i might add. No ?

P.s 3 - In the Wikipedia page for Ladder theory mentioned above - there is this wonderful list of topics in a box titled 'Close Relationships' - neatly categorized into subcategories - then onto a series of wonderful topics and theories from each page thereon. Blogpost fodder - im even considering starting a tag based on this. Lets see.