Build up, build up, build up!

Recently, I was talking to a tennis pro.  

I asked her what it takes to win. Her answer surprised me.

I thought she’d say something usual like “hit a lot of balls”, or “you’ve got to want to take your opponent down”, or “never show weakness.” 

No, her answer was, “Make sure you take a lot of time to warm up. Practice your strokes slowly and accurately. When you enter the match don’t defeat yourself by trying to hit your hardest or strongest, -- just build up, build up, build up. Then, when you’re warm and you’ve found your pace, -- you’ll naturally hit harder and more accurately and you’ll win. It’s consistent building that wins a match, otherwise you defeat yourself.”

That's a great answer for our practice of Christian Science, too, "Build up, build up, build up!" "Be consistent!" 

The author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, "The divine demand, 'Be ye therefore perfect, 'is scientific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable. Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can 'run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,' who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement. God requires perfection, but not until the battle between Spirit and flesh is fought and the victory won. To stop eating, drinking, or being clothed materially before the spiritual facts of existence are gained step by step, is not legitimate. When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much (253:32)."