Open by Andre Agassi

My Tedtalk xDallas script

Hello Dallas, how y'all do in tonight?

I've often wondered if, in life, I have made different decisions if I would be in another place, and then I think, what decision led me to this? I realized many judgments led to this, but there is one conclusion I can pinpoint that changed my life. I don't know if you've often thought about the idea of different universes and how maybe another version of you is out there wondering about you, and maybe that's why we get shivers down our spine. Maybe because the other one of us is thinking of us simultaneously.

(pause for dramatic effect)

Now I know we're supposed to talk about a book that changed our life, and I'm going to. I will get there, but I have to talk about what I did to choose the book that changed my life. Because somewhere along the line, I had to make a decision that would lead me to that book, and I did, and that decision was in middle school. Instead of joining A-team Sport, I decided to join tennis. See, my dad, played tennis when he was young. He handed me his old racket. It was older than I then, and he said You should play tennis. I remember looking at him incredulously, wondering why he handed me a racket that was older than myself. However, I thought it was a moment to bond with a father that you know I had a hard time seeing eye to eye with. He said I was stubborn and reminded him of himself, and therefore, he tried to shepherd me in ways not to make his same mistakes. Hindsight is 2020, and I made the same mistakes as him, but I digress.

(another pause? Yes, another pause)

So, I played tennis from middle school into high school, and it was in high school that I met my future husband; I had a hard time sticking with tennis. I was good, but I wasn't good enough. I never felt I was good enough, and my dad put a lot of pressure on me to be a lot better than I thought I was this magnificent woman able to be something I was not. It was then that I found the book that would change my life. I found the book “Open” by Andre Agassi. (at this point ask the audience if they have heard of Andre Agassi)

This book is written from the perspective of a former tennis player who was ranked number one in the world. He shares his story of growing up and feeling inadequate, yet he still managed to become a tennis legend. As I read this book, I was struck by how relatable his story was. He grew up in Las Vegas, while I lived in Dallas, and yet we faced similar struggles. I was captivated by the book and devoured it with intense interest. It made me realize why I love tennis so much. Tennis is not just a physical sport, but it's a mental game as well. When playing singles, it's just you against one other person. Often, it's not because the other person is better, but because we beat ourselves. Tennis is an allegory for life, and it made me wonder what my life would be like if I had never pursued it. If I hadn't, I never would have met my husband. Although there's a chance we would have met in some alternate universe, I owe my continued journey to tennis and to Andre Agassi's book "Open." It's beautiful to think that, despite our differences, our lives can be so similar. I encourage you to think outside the box, look for others who may be different and realize we are all very much the same. I often think of alternate Jazmine, and I hope she is as happy as I am.

Thank you Dallas.