Duck or Catch?

When life throws you a curve ball, do you duck to avoid getting hit, or turn around and face the incoming missile with a catcher’s mitt? The easier thing to do is duck or hide, but in doing so, you end up missing an opportunity to save the game. I used to be the team pitcher for a softball team in my youth, and this taught me certain life skills that I carry with me everywhere I go.

1. You are never alone in this world. You are always part of a team or a network of people who are interdependent. The world does not revolve around you and you alone, but everything you do affects the next person.
2. Don’t reveal your full power until the last minute. Keep the opponent guessing what you’re going to do next, how you will approach it, and with what speed it will hit them. In other words, don’t be predictable. Anyone who knows me personally will attest to the fact that there are many adjectives that can be used to describe me, but predictable is definitely not one of them.
3. Keep your hand on the ball. Know every curve, and own it. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking baseball, cricket, tennis, football or basketball, a ball is a ball and you need to know it well. That’s right, it’s not about keeping the eyes on the ball, but establishing a connection with it to the point that you don’t need your eyes to guide you. This is my attitude towards the people I choose to call friends. I don’t need to see them everyday, but I feel them, and we know each other’s stitches, bruises, and dents!
4. Don’t aim high, aim properly. Aim too high and you will miss the target. Aim too low you will never reach the target. But focus on what you want to hit, embrace the power within you, and throw like your life depends on it, putting body and soul behind that ball.
5. If you drop the ball, move quickly to recover. Don’t stop to wallow in the drop, or berate yourself for dropping it in the first place. What’s done is done, and the true measure of a person’s strength is the ability to recover from a mistake or unexpected circumstance that changes everything, or perhaps just delays the results.

I aim, I pitch, and sure as hell don’t duck because I want to make sure I catch that ball and win the game in the end.