Play Ball
Sometimes life requires you to step up to the plate and play ball.
Recently we were invited to a pick-up softball game, and not many people there knew I could play. If you are a high school friend, please refrain from commenting on how well I played. But I did play.
So, imagine two Sundays ago, I’m 7th up at bat, and on the first pitch, I just hit the ball. Not a homerun by any stretch of the imagination, just a single. Everyone was surprised. I knew how to stand, how to hold the bat and how to wait for just the right moment to engage the power in my swing with the ball coming towards me. (I also caught an infield pop-up; that’s a story for another day).
When I was up to bat, I was fully present, felt the fear of possibly striking out, felt the expectation of others, remembered the times I had played years ago…
With all that humming in my mind, I did something very practical, tangible even. I noticed where my body was, I let myself stand up tall, squeeze the bat, hands low and together, I tapped into all the power available to me as I readied myself.
I honestly had no idea how it would unfold, but I decided to try. Try to be present, try to engage, try to remember how it felt when I was younger and loved to play ball. It worked. The pitcher (kind as he was) lobbed a ball over the mound and crack, a single up the center of the field, just enough to get me to base, running just fast enough to keep me safe.
Of course, it was a pickup game, I never made it home, I was stranded on second as our team got its third out. The next time we were up at bat there was another woman at bat, her stance was all off, her hands unsteady on the bat, so I showed her how to stand:
Square up to the plate, so all the power you have goes through your body.
Put your hands close together and low on the bat, to engage the ball.
Keep your eyes on the ball, on what’s coming. Forget everything else.
Swing for all you are worth, live with abandon.
Have fun, and oh, yes, run if you hit the ball.
My friend was so excited she hit the ball she forgot to run! She changed her stance, shocked herself and stood there jumping up and down!! I started yelling, “run, run, run!” She made it to first base as well. And our team started to rally…If I hadn’t been willing to assist, to show her a few pointers, she might have hit the ball, she might have struck out, but she would not have known her power.
What power lies within you?
~ What if we could learn emotional “muscle-memory” like we do muscle-memory?
~ What if we could be present and engage, even with thoughts humming in our heads?
~ What would it take for us to consider our emotional life like batting practice?
Square up to the plate: Stand with courage and strength to face decisions and emotions.
Hold your power: Learn to face life and daily frustration with determination to be calm.
Keep your eyes on what is coming: Be present. Forget overwhelming thoughts, set them aside, most are not true, they are simply sapping energy and focus.
Live with abandon: Feel and process emotions so that you are free of the weight of them.
Have fun: Make room for fun by letting go of strong emotions. Be kind and gentle with yourself and others. If you are continually resentful you aren’t open to laughter and fun.
Joy-filled moments need space to breathe.
You have the power to create that space between emotion and action, between the throw and the crack of the bat. Practice creating space next time overwhelming emotion throws you a curve ball.
Step up to the plate and play ball! Intentionally decide how you will show up for life.
“In quietness and trust is your strength.”
Isiah 30:15
