Everyone has those days… when nothing seems to go right.. Hell some of us can have that for weeks or years. Yet the key to surviving those tough moments is in finding the joy in something … be it your children’s smile, your dog being nutty or some other situation that makes you smile, no matter how fleeting. That’s what drives most of us to play this game. Because no matter how bad a day, week or even a year has been, for that hour or so that you take the field with 9 (or 10) other friends and teammates fighting for that same goal … you forget all of your troubles and you focus your attention on a stupid little yellow ball.
So often in this crazy world of technology with cell phones, Instagram, Facebook, Snap Chat and who knows what else, for a brief time we connect with each other… on a personal level. We support each other, fight for each other, pick each other up when we falter and in the end (win or lose) we leave EVERYTHING on the field.
There’s a life lesson in this. One that gets washed over because of, well, life. When you’re team is down by 5 runs and it’s the bottom of the 7th you don’t quit, and you damn sure don’t admit defeat before that 3rd out. So why do we not approach real life like this? Is it because on the field we have 9 other friends pushing us to the same goal? Perhaps. … but have you ever been the one to spark the rally? To pick the team up and put them on your back and run with it? There is no greater moment than that.
That’s the lesson in here friends. We play this game because it elevates us, brings us together and makes us better friends. Perhaps if we took the same approach in our jobs, stopped at someones desk that you don’t know well, or never talk to, and ask them to have coffee… or if you can help them with a report.. or just make small talk.. then the hum drum office can be a better place. True, not every office can be like that… and not every person wants to interact with others… but ask yourself this, how would you feel if someone in your office came up to you and asked you to coffee? or just to hang out and talk? Wouldn’t that day be just a little better?
Yeah, I know… not a great blog about softball… but in this world of crazy where people shoot up schools, fight each other over gun rights, send out anthrax in an envelop and face the reality of racism and other social atrocities.. we DON’T have to be part of the problem. Take some of that fight and spirit you have on the field, off the field, to your work, office or school. Lift someone up when they’re down. Help someone less fortunate that yourself. Be that better person you are when your on the field. Do that, and maybe this world we live in will be brighter tomorrow.
See you out there…
Softball Nation 365 