Strike Out Swinging

When I was growing up, I played many sports. Please don’t misunderstand this to mean I was an athlete, I was more of a participant. Either way, I learned a lot from playing sports. One of the best lessons has resurfaced a lot lately.

Don’t strike out watching, strike out swinging.

Obviously, my coaches would have preferred that I not strike out at all, but willingness to compromise is part of good leadership.

There is a powerful lesson here that holds value beyond the dirt of a softball field. Each time we step up to the plate, or step out of our comfort zone, we are either going to make a hit or strike out. That is life. We win some, we lose some. We have amazing years, and we have years like 2020. That is just the reality of life.

Yet, we cannot let that stop us from playing the game. We cannot let that stop us from taking chances in life. More importantly, what we chose to do at that plate matters. We have to swing.

As I have said before, and will say until my last breath, our time is finite and it’s passing regardless of what we do with it. We cannot let our days whizz past us like a fastball and just watch them. We have to swing.

The other part about this lesson that I love, is the reassurance that striking out is okay as long as you’re trying. We are all going to fail sometimes, but please don’t misinterpret failure as wasting time. Not trying is wasting time. We have to swing.

Stop putting off the important items on your to do list, stop waiting for tomorrow or someday, take action today. This is not a scrimmage, this is the game. Your time at bat is here, but it won’t be forever. So step up to that plate and start swinging