I think I'm getting taller

October 3, 2012

Have you ever attended a Little League baseball game? My youngest son is 11 and plays on a local team. He absolutely loves it. This year he’s playing third base, and every now and then he pitches. I enjoy watching him play with the exception of the hard wood benches that the parents sit on during the game. Even though its Little League the kids take it pretty seriously. As a spectator I often find myself passing the time observing the mindsets of the different kids on the field. How they react when they get a hit or make a great play and even how they react when they strike out.

I recently attended a game that was quite interesting. It looked like my son’s team was playing the NY Yankees. The other kids hit every ball to the fence and their pitchers threw fast balls, curve balls, and even a breaking ball. They were really good and my son’s team lost 9-0. If you are familiar with the movie the Bad News Bears that’s how my son’s team played that day. Two kids on his team actually ran into each other in the outfield and the ball dropped in between them. Every kid struck out that day including my son. On two different occasions the ball was hit to third base, and as my son bent over to scoop it up the ball went in between his legs. The first time it happened he looked confused and the second time I thought I noticed a little smile on his face.

The game ended with a boy on my son’s team striking out. The winning team threw their gloves in the air and cheered. The only sound louder came from the kid who was next to bat on my son’s team. Since the game ended right before he came up to bat he put both hands in the air and yelled, “Yes!!! I didn’t make the last out!” He appeared to be the only happy player on the team. Several kids were crying and most had their heads down including the coach who seemed a bit embarrassed. Then I noticed my boy with a smile on his face congratulating the other team. In the car ride home we called my wife so she could get a baseball update directly from the source.

I put her on speaker phone and her first question to Hayden was “How was the game?” Without missing a beat Hayden said, “It was a great game for the other team.” My wife laughed and I looked to see if he was being serious or sarcastic. Surprisingly, he was seriously happy for the other team. Then my wife asked for the score; when she heard they lost 9-0 she asked if he still had fun. He didn’t even hesitate when he said, “Mom, I got to play baseball today for over 90 minutes, how could that NOT be fun.” Lastly she asked him how he did. First he said that he struck out twice and he needs to work on becoming a better hitter - he’s looking forward to batting practice. Then he looked at me with excitement and said, “Hey Dad, did you see those two balls that went right through my legs?” I told him I did and he said, “Isn’t that great…I think I’m getting taller!” He sure found a way to focus on the positives that day.

There’s a saying that you can’t control the circumstances in your life but you can control how you react to them. All of the kids on my son’s team were at the same game but they choose different ways to experience it. It really comes down to your mindsets. You’ve probably experienced this in your own life. When you choose to focus on situations that make you sad, angry, or disappointed then you end up finding more reasons to be upset. However, if you focus your energy on what is positive, even the upside of a down situation, then you begin to experience more positives in your life. As you go through your day, remember how lucky you are that you get to pursue your dreams. With this type of mindset you will always win the game of life, no matter what the current score is.

Until next week…

Live Your Dreams