Inspirational Stories: A Full Swing
Have you ever felt that things simply don’t tend to work out for you? Do you sometimes feel that a good percentage of your efforts are fruitless and never even approach success? Well, not to worry. Here's an interesting little story heard along the way, which might serve to provide some perspective.
A man visits his priest and reports that he feels like a complete failure. "I don't know what it is, but it seems I fail at half of the things I do," he complains. The priest says simply, "World Book Almanac, page seventy-four." The man returns the next day, visibly upset.
"I came here at the end of my rope, looking for help and you offered me nothing."
"Didn't you locate the information to which I directed you?"
"Sure, but a baseball batting average of three hundred-something has nothing to do with me or my feelings of depression!"
“Sure it does,” responded the priest. "You see, it's simple, here's a professional player celebrated for holding the world record even though he failed two out of three times he got up to bat. If you are batting .500, all I can say to you is, keep up the great work!"
Fortunately, life isn’t intended to be comprised of an endless string of home runs. Fortunately, because can you imagine how monotonous and boring that would be? No, in this life what really qualifies us to appreciate, enjoy, get the most out of, and to be truly worthy of the good times is having effectively survived, learned, and grown from the bad ones. In other words, it is intimate knowledge of the lowest lows that makes the highest high seem awesome.
Life doesn’t end if you don’t, this time, hit a home run. However, life doesn’t truly begin until you are willing to step up to the plate. So go ahead and step up. Have the confidence that you will get the most out of the experience. Have the confidence that you will do your best. When a pitch looks good, take a full swing, and give it everything you’re worth. Be ready and willing to respond to whatever comes next. And always remember to be positive, smile often, and have a little fun with it—after all, it’s supposed to be a game.
Batter up! |
