Claiming to be a global citizen is wishful thinking

I wrote this story a few weeks ago:

I’m a global citizen, an immigrant from it doesn’t matter where

Now I’m thinking I was lying to myself. A couple of stories I came across got me questioning my own mindset.

I’m a sports fan or, to be more precise, I am a fan of professional athletes. I admire their strive for excellence. Earlier this month I watched Djokovich win his twenty-first grand slam. Because we’re a tennis family I have a good knowledge of many players’ life stories. But I decided to open Wikipedia and read about Djokovich again. When Novak was young, he had a chance to represent Britain:

Britain was offering me a lot of opportunities and they needed someone because Andy [Murray] was the only one, and still is. That had to be a disappointment for all the money they invest. But I didn’t need the money as much as I had done. I had begun to make some for myself, enough to afford to travel with a coach, and I said, “Why the heck?” I am Serbian, I am proud of being a Serbian, I didn’t want to spoil that just because another country had better conditions. If I had played for Great Britain, of course, I would have played exactly as I do for my country but deep inside, I would never have felt that I belonged. I was the one who took the decision.