Re-Gain

Reader Commentary | nvdaily.com https://share.google/ID7SjLRoYHy6gvtXQ I grew up lucky. Adults took the time to guide me, teach me, and nudge me forward. I learned tennis because older people invested their patience and skill in me, and that attention shaped the course of my life. In the late 1970s, while I was teaching tennis, I began volunteering—what I called happy returns.  Giving back has given me a purposeful life.Over the years—from major schools to my early days at Bryce Resort in 1980—I’ve taught children and adults, freely giving thousands of hours of instruction. My reward comes when former students return years later to thank me.  Building community is priceless. Our greatest national treasure is the attention we give our children.Recently, I volunteered at Robinson Elementary School in Woodstock. Watching a first‑grade teacher command a room full of six‑year‑olds—balancing discipline, curiosity, and joy—reminded me how demanding and noble this work is....

“I would never join a club that would have me as a member.” — Groucho Marx As a young tennis player winning tournaments, I learned an old truth: to be the best in the country, you had to play in the city. But the city’s country clubs weren’t just athletic centers—they were gatekeepers.Competing at places like Chevy Chase Club exposed me early to a world where privilege dictated access.  Tennis became my first education in the divide between wealth and labor. My father, a Capitol Hill staffer who helped write Medicaid and Medicare, co-founded the Capitol Hill Tennis Team, which I joined as a boy. The little time I spent with him was on the court. Even then, I sensed the tension between public service and private privilege—between the ideals he worked on and the exclusivity surrounding the sport we shared. As a tennis professional, I moved between two Americas. I taught at Edgemoor Club, Bryce Resort, Chevy Chase Club, Palm Beach Polo, and elite schools such as Holton-Arm...

Growing up in the D.C. area, I used to go camping a hundred miles west of the city. I never imagined I would one day spend half my life there. Yet here I am, settled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, where I fell in love with the landscape, the simplicity, and the sense of community that holds this place together. When I first arrived, people were scraping by. Many were eating beans and rice, earning less than five dollars an hour, and struggling just to break even. Life was modest, but neighbors looked out for one another. Thirty‑four years ago, I bought my land for $8,000 -- 4.3 acres, a quarter‑acre of it a dry run, the rest rocks and shale. Today, the county says that the same land is worth $90,000, and they’ve assessed my house at roughly $70,000, well above what major real‑estate sites estimate. Meanwhile, my electric bill has climbed steadily, rising about twelve percent on average, mirroring increases in gas and other household costs. Stagflation feels closer t...

  Dr. Seuss’s favorite book was The Lorax. When the story opens, the land has fallen silent. A child wanders through a gray and barren world. The Lorax steps forward and declares, “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” This is no children’s tale. It is a parable for now. Few Americans today remember Roosevelt’s “Tree Army”—the Civilian Conservation Corps, born in the hunger years of 1933 and ended in the shadow of 1942. In less than a decade, three million young men planted more than three billion trees, restored wounded lands, and built the parks and pathways that still cradle our footsteps. They carved Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge spine, raised bridges, shaped trails, and left behind a geography of hope. For more than a century, nations have understood that tending the land also tends the human spirit. Sustainability, discipline, resilience, cooperation—these are the virtues the earth teaches to those willing to work with their hands in the soil...

My well‑being grows from accepting what is. Wisdom comes from discernment and the cultivation of virtue. When I meet life with openness, even troubling moments become opportunities to learn. Expectations narrow my world; releasing them expands it. A resilient, spacious mindset liberates me. As awareness grows, resistance softens, and I navigate circumstances with greater ease. When my actions align with purpose, I feel renewed. Leaving things better than I found them affirms responsibility. Kindness becomes radical self‑care. Respectful responses foster integrity, and this care frees me. Acceptance and “being the change” create liberation. Small intentions ripple into larger benefits. Insight brings equanimity in demanding times. May I turn curses into blessings and find treasure in misfortune. May higher purpose guide me. May I cultivate reverence for people, places, and things. May I celebrate an expanded sense of freedom. Applying my virtues in difficulty brings harmony....

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