Take Me Out To The Ballgame

As I told you, my plan is to not post a weekly blog any more so that I can make sure what I say...is worth reading. I'm already breaking that rule. My wife has also suggested that I make them too long and that most people don't have eight to twelve minutes to read my long rambling thoughts so, here's a short thought instead. Your weekly PCT-Positive CJ Thoughts in abbreviated form.

I love baseball, I think by now, you can tell. So...today, I'm headed to PNC Park in Pittsburgh, to watch baseball with my friends.

We know Chris will be watching from his stadium seat in the clouds above us.

Baseball is a fantastic euphemism for life. If you never step up to the plate, you have no shot of hitting a home run.

I used it as an analogy when I wrote about my friend Chris' life, and I think about it every time life throws me a curve ball or a slider.

If you aren't standing at the plate, you have no opportunity to to swing your knowledge, your talent, or your abilities in hopes of making contact and sending it to the fences.

So..step up, level the bat and hold the damn thing off your shoulder. Square your shoulders and stare down the pitcher. Wait for your pitch. Sometimes you'll hear it whiz by your ear. Sometimes it will be out of reach, out of the strike zone, and you have to let it go.

Every once in a while, that ball will come over the plate in the perfect spot and your swing will be true. When the bat makes contact, the ball flies toward the fences. How much power you put into that swing will determine how far it goes. Does it drop in between the second baseman and the outfield, or does it sail over the fence and into the river so you can round the bases and touch home.

If you never step up the plate, you're already out.