Monday, October 31, 2011

The sport metaphor in relations

Which came first, the shot, or the rebound? Obviously the shot comes first, then if unsuccessful, the rebound. There are two kinds of rebounds in sport. Offensive, being performed by the shot-taking entity, and Defensive, being performed by the competition.

So in relationships most people I know, speak generally of a rebound as something that is either negative, unfortunately flawed, or doomed itself to fail.

I disagree. I see a rebound as a neutral opportunity to take another shot, especially if it is an offensive rebound. The perfection of the metaphor ends though, because with relationships, it is the shot-taker that rebounds, and not the competition. The competition may rebound with your previous partner, but that has nothing to do with you, the shot-taking entity.

So let's just agree that Offense is the only way to live, OK? Fine. When you grab that rebound, there is so much you can do with it, like shoot it right back up, dribble it, pass it within your shot-taking entity, or just hold it and call a time out. Either way, the end goal is to put that shot up again.

So, doesn't everyone rebound? Is there really any other way to take another shot?