And When You Are Up To Bat, I Pray You Hit a Homerun!

I began this year with a quieter soul. Intentionally. What I mean by that is I decided to deliberately listen to my thoughts, pay attention to my desires, and stay aware of my emotions throughout the day…and respond accordingly. This has quieted me. Brought more peace. Caused me to more fully live in the present moment, and move away from the “what’s next” frenzy. It has been truly enjoyable not to miss a beat of my day…or my heart. After all, time is the only thing we can’t get back. We can lose many things, regroup, and get them back. But not time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Something that precious deserves more of my attention. And the people that need my time certainly deserve more of my attention. Once those people are gone, there is no more time to get them back. Perhaps time, properly respected, is our home run. Let me explain.

“And when you are up to bat, I pray you hit a home run!”

This morning as I was waking up, in that in-between-awake-and-asleep state, I saw an aerial view of a baseball diamond and heard the words, “And when you are up to bat, I pray you hit a home run!” Immediately I was wide-awake, jarred by the impact of this statement. There was a message in there I needed to understand more deeply, but I knew the baseball diamond represented life. So for a few hours now I have been processing many thoughts. And to be honest, I am a little disturbed because we all strike out at times. We all hit foul balls. And sometimes we do well, but we still only get a single, double, or triple! How, when we are up to bat, do we hit a homerun? What does that even mean?

Babe Ruth, Home Runs and Strikeouts

Babe Ruth was the example my husband, Michael, thought of when I shared these thoughts with him. Babe Ruth’s nickname was the Sultan of Swat, and I believe Michael is right, we can learn a great lesson from this man. Ruth is famous for hitting homeruns…714 to be exact. However, he struck out 1330 times! The significance of this is two-fold. First of all, he didn’t let his strikeouts keep him from going for the homeruns. He kept getting back up to bat and swinging over and over. And secondly, he isn’t remembered for his strikeouts. The homeruns were so significant that their force was far greater.

Homeruns: How we choose to spend our time

Homeruns can represent many things, but I believe one of the most impactful homeruns is how we choose to spend our time. If you are reading this, you are on the field of life, and you have all kinds of opportunities, as well as challenges. But what you choose to do with each moment will impact whether your life is remembered for homeruns or strikeouts. It seems to me that ending well, with a string of homeruns, can almost erase our strikeouts. So swing! Get back up to the plate of life and prove to the world…or at least to those you love…that life is too precious to walk away from another opportunity. Go for the hit, and let the force of it define your life. When you are up to bat, my friend, I pray you hit a homerun!