Wednesday, August 17, 2011

How Life's Challenges are Like a Baseball Game




I never liked baseball.

When I was about nine or ten years old I sat through the World Series with my twenty-something uncle.  
All I remember is how at the end, he swore he’d never watch another baseball game with me again. 
(Guess I asked too many questions.)

Fast forward twenty-nine years later… 

My kids are on baseball teams, my fiancĂ©e plays baseball and I’ve attended two major league games and one minor league.

What’s not to like about baseball!?

 Maybe it was the frequent exposure that changed my mind, or maybe having experienced baseball on a grander scale that made the sport more interesting. I’m not sure.

In the game every player gets an opportunity to bat eventually.
They can never tell what they’re going to get from the pitcher. 
They couuld be batting against a crappy slow ball or swinging at 
(and striking out on) a 99-mile-an-hour-top-notch pitch.

No matter how that ball comes at them, they always have two choices:
Let it go or give it their all. 

Then comes the next inning and the next one and the next...

The team could be down for 8 innings and suddenly, it all comes together in the ninth…and not only does it come together, but they end up grabbing an extra inning out of it, and use it to win the game. 

It's incredibly exciting! And actually, it reminds me a little of how we deal with life's obstacles .

Not everyone gets their chance in the beginning, but eventually, we all get to bat against our demons.

And if we lose, we get to wake up the next day and do it all over again.

Some games (and seasons) seem to go on forever (as many of life's problems do)...but maybe that’s a good thing…

As they say, ‘practice makes perfect’ and at least we get another chance. 

It could be preparation for the next time around. 

When we've learned something about how we handled the last pitch, how we reacted to it and whether we took action or not.

The next time you are faced with a curve-ball, will you strike out again because you used the same strategy as last time, or will you analyze the pitcher, anticipate his pitch accurately this time around, and send it into the stands?

Don't ever give up. The next game will be here before long, and you never know, you might just hit a home run.

Truly,
Amber