Lessons from the Softball Field

During my freshman year in high school, I tried out for the girls softball team. I had no experience playing softball, but I had recently experienced a pretty traumatic loss (my father died of a heart attack), so my friends encouraged me to try something new and fun to keep my mind off the obvious. 

A majority of the girls on the team had been playing for at least a few years, probably more. 

I remember watching them pitch. And catch. And hit.

They pitched fast. They caught every ball. They hit solidly. 

When I went up to bat, I missed every ball. When I played in the field, I missed every ball. When I pitched...ha, yeah right...I didn't even attempt to pitch!

The tryouts I went to were some kind of preliminary tryouts - they were the tryouts before the actual tryouts!

At the end of the session, the coaches sat us down and began by expressing gratitude to everyone for coming out, but then announcing that three of us wouldn't be moving on to the regular tryouts. 

In case you were wondering, I was one of the three that wouldn't be moving on to the regular tryouts. 

I was cut from the tryouts before the actual tryouts!

As humiliating as it was, it was a good lesson in resilience and being open to new experiences. Shortly after, I tried out for soccer and made it on the team! While I was no star player or anything, I really liked the action involved in this sport and felt like I had found something to keep me moving forward...in more ways than one. 

I think of this story every time I watch my daughter from the sidelines. Whether she is pitching, catching, hitting, or playing in the field, I love her focus and "head in the game" demeanor. She shows resilience when things aren't going her way in the game, and is out there doing her best every step of the way. Clearly she didn't earn her softball skills from me, but I like to think the other positive qualities she brings out onto the field with her have my name all over them! xo