In the half dozen years that Henry Paiste has been playing competitive tennis, he has accumulated more awards than you can count.

But when the four-time District 11 champion is looking for motivation or perspective, he doesn't turn to his collection of trohpies and medals.Instead, Paiste looks to his wall his wall of quotes that is.While some athletes like to be surrounded with the awards that remind them of how good they are, Paiste prefers words that push him to be better than he is."The wall in my room is covered with quotes," explained Paiste. "I love reading and memorizing quotes. I use them to motivate myself when things aren't going well and to help me keep things in perspective when things are going well."Tennis is a year round challenge. I'm training 12 months a year to play in 15 or 20 tournaments. So there is a lot of practice time and a lot of hard work on your own. The quotes are my way to make sure I never get too low or too high."They have obviously worked.Paiste recently became the first boys tennis player and just the second player overall to capture four consecutive District 11 tennis singles titles. The Northwestern school district athlete, earned his place in history by sweeping Moravian Academy's Zach Shaff in the Class AA finals.In four years of District 11 tournament play, Paiste never lost a match. As a matter of fact, he very rarely even lost a set, winning an incredible 40 of 42 sets he played."I usually try not to get caught up looking back at what I've done in the past," said Paiste. "I prefer to focus on what's ahead and prepare for my next match or my next tournament."But I have to admit that when I won the District title this year, it was nice to look back a little bit. It's always special to earn a place in history. To be the first boy to ever win four district championships is something that I take a lot of pride in accomplishing."With a place in District 11 tennis history at stake, it would be natural to assume that Paiste might have been a little tighter or a little more intense for this year's tournament. In actuality, however, his approach was the exact opposite."I wanted to make sure I took in everything this year," said Paiste. "When I was an underclassmen, my focus was on proving myself, or making a name for myself, or trying to earn a scholarship."This year, I tried to keep a smile on my face and enjoy every minute on the court. I really wanted to appreciate the ability I'd been given to play this wonderful sport."The approach obviously worked as Paiste advanced to the D-11 Class AA final where he had a rematch with Shaff. After needing to rally for a hard fought three-set victory a year ago, Paiste swept Shaff this year, 7-5, 6-2.That led to another PIAA State Tournament appearance.Paiste was looking continue his yearly improvement at States. As a freshman, he fell in the first round of the 16-person field. As a sophomore, he advanced to the quarterfinals before losing. In his junior year, Paiste reached the semifinals before losing and eventually finishing fourth after dropping the consolation match. Paiste reached the semifinals this season as well, but once again suffered a pair of second-day losses to finish fourth."It's easy to reflect back and think 'I never won the gold medal that I so badly wanted,'" said Paiste. "But it's not always about winning championships."I lost to some great tennis players. Sometimes, it's just about being the best player you can be."Paiste isn't exaggerating when he talks about losing to some great players. After being knocked out by the eventual state runner-up as a freshman, Paiste has lost to the eventual state champion each of the last three years."Sometime you just have to appreciate the opportunity you have and be grateful for it," said Paiste. "A lot of kids dream about playing in a state tournament and I got to play in four."Despite that feeling, Paiste said there was still some disappointment leaving the court in Hershey this year."It's always hard walking off the court after a loss," said Paiste. "That was especially true this year, knowing that it was my final high school match."But Paiste had to look no further than the wall in his room to turn the negative into a positive."One of my favorite quotes, especially after a loss, is by Charles Swindell," said Paiste. "The quote is, 'I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.'"Because even when you are as talented a player as Paiste, who will be heading to the University of Alabama Birmingham next year on a Division I tennis scholarship, you are only as good as your next match.The best players don't fall in love with their victories and don't fall apart after their defeats.Paiste has found the perfect way to make sure he does that he just reads his wall.Because for Paiste, words are far more important than awards.