An Approach: “I’m just here to hit dingers.”

I remember having a revelation when I was twelve or thirteen years old. At the time, most every part of my existence was enthralled with the idea of being the best ballplayer I could be.

The specific thought went like this. At the age of twelve and thirteen, one’s skill can finally combine with enough physical maturity to hit home runs. Up until that point, you could be a good player relative to your peers, but the physics just didn’t add up yet such that hitting a baseball far enough to go over a Little League fence was in the cards. 

You see, hitting a home run might be the biggest, sexiest thing you could accomplish on a baseball field. I think most kids could agree on that unanimously. While it might be a young, egotistic view, I distinctly remember being amazed that I still played and even liked baseball before hitting a home run was even possible. Of course, I was having this thought as a bonafide home-run-hitter. Every day I went to the ballpark was a chance to do the biggest, coolest thing possible. But, before that.. I guess I just still liked the game when the best thing that could happen was hitting a double in the gap?

I say this because I think we’re living in exaggerated times.

The amount of information we’re exposed to of completed projects and long-road personal triumph is maddening. If you’re not careful, you could find yourself only showing up to the yard to hit home runs. The trouble is the “home runs” most of us want to hit in life will only come after playing for the love of the game for a while. 

Grab a bat and let’s string together singles and doubles for a while.