This past weekend, I was walking at the park trying to get my ten thousand steps in, when I noticed a softball game happening on the field. I told myself I’d watch for just a minute.
Thirty minutes later, I was still there.
The players were kicking up dust as they raced around the bases, and I could feel the competitiveness between the teams. It took me right back to elementary school when I played Shortstop. I was that little girl again. Standing on the field, watching the ball and waiting for the next play. I remember how exciting those games felt.
Once that ball left the pitcher’s hand, nobody really knew exactly where it was going. The batter could control her swing, but not the outcome. The pitcher could also influence the play, but not completely control it either. And then, you as the batter have to react.
I’ve had plenty of moments in my own life where I wanted to control the outcome so badly that I focused more on what might happen than what was actually in front of me. We can prepare and plan our week. We can make great swings. We can make smart decisions. And then the ball leaves our hands.
But there was one play in softball that I always felt pretty confident about. The catch.
When that ball went up into the air, it seemed to float. I didn’t have to chase it all over the field. I could see where it was going, get myself into position, and let the ball come to me.
We don’t always need to do more. We may just need to create enough space to see what’s coming. In that way, we can get ourselves into the right position, and be ready to make the catch when the opportunity comes. It’s crazy that so much of life’s lessons can be figured out from watching a game of softball. Instead of us trying to run around trying to control where it lands. We just need to get into position.
When we’re constantly buried in the details of our business, it’s hard to see the ball in the air. We might miss the opportunity simply because we were too busy chasing everything else.
Final Thoughts
Opportunities could be heading our way all the time, but we must give ourselves the space to see the ball that’s headed our way for us to catch it. We don’t have to chase the whole field. We just need to be ready for the play that’s ours.
