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Swing Heavy

Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can do.”

Henry Drummond

As the Father of two boys I have made my rounds with t-ball, soccer, basketball (a couple of times) and most recently baseball.  If we had all the money back, we have spent on sports equipment we could probably buy more sports equipment.

Recently I was in the yard with boys practicing batting.  I am not sure that I am exactly the right person to be giving advice on swinging a bat since the extent of my sports experience goes back to church league softball, where our team was the annual winner of the Best Sportsmanship Award, we all know what that is code for.

Anyway, my youngest son was using the his older brothers bat.  He was getting frustrated at how heavy & hard it was to swing.  As a matter of pride he did not want to use his junior size bat.  However, after a couple of rounds of not hitting anything he conceded and grabbed the lighter bat.

Shortly after that he was connecting with everything.  I could see his confidence grow.  A smile spread across his face.  He said, “after that heavy bat, this one feels a lot lighter”

Conditioning

 It is not uncommon to see baseball players warming up by swinging two bats or having weights on the end of their bat. 

 Did you ever stop to think about why?

They don’t step up to the plate with two bats.  No, they prepare by swinging two bats to make the bat they are going to swing seem lighter.

The bat actually isn’t lighter, it is the same weight it always has been, however to their body compared to swinging two bats, one bat is lighter.

Resistance is not futile

Resistance is necessary. 

If you made it through the day without any challenges, you would have nothing to compare the rest of your day with.  If your job is great all of the time then you really can’t appreciate downtime or a slower spell.

We need resistance in our lives. 

As hard as it is when we are going through it, it gives a lens to appreciate when things are going well.

Houston we have a problem….

Think about astronauts.  

Without gravity challenging their muscles when they return to earth they are extremely weak.   Without resistance muscles atrophy and become useless.

What about in your life?

You’ve been in a job for awhile, it’s gotten routine & easy.  What muscles are you letting atrophy?  What talents are you not using? Where is the challenge?

What goal or dream do you have that you are not pursuing?  Are you afraid of adding more resistance?

What relationships are you letting go, because you are worried about the resistance needed to reestablish them?

Batter…Battter…Battter…

Look for areas in your life where you can add an extra bat and start swinging.  It will only make you better.  Even if it doesn’t prove successful at least you will have had the experience and have gained a new perspective.

There already may be areas where you feel like life has handed you three bats to swing.

Power through.

Keep swinging.

The end result is learning and future challenges may seem much lighter compared to what you are currently going through.

For any challenge in your life it is always better to swing heavy & miss, than to constantly swing light.

You may connect but will you hit a Home Run?

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Published inLeadershipLife
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