High and Tight

The leaves are changing, frost is on the pumpkin, and the Baseball playoffs are in full swing. Professional baseball teams play 162 games over the course of six months. On any given day it is hard to tell what matters and what doesn't. Playoffs are another matter. Every pitch, every hit, and every failure is magnified in the post season.

The battle for home plate and the strike zone it defines can be epic.  The hitter stands defiantly trying to make contact and accomplish his objective. The pitcher uses his entire repertoire to keep the hitter guessing. It is not uncommon for a pitcher to brush back a batter by throwing a pitch inside to move the hitter off the plate. Imagine standing as a baseball is thrown at you at 90 miles an hour. The risk of being hit by a pitch is as real as the likelihood of hitting it.

The "high and tight" fastball is as prevalent in life as it is in the bottom of the ninth. In the business world your competitors steal your customers. At the doctor's office there is always  the potential for a diagnosis that "brushes you back". In relationships, sometimes you never see it coming and you have no chance to react. You are knocked down but you are not out.

In baseball, the players get up and dust off. No one walks back to the dugout and says it is too dangerous to face another pitch. They stand up, they lean in, they face the same risk, and they succeed or they fail. Either way, they can't wait to get their next chance to face another pitch.

Perhaps life has thrown a high and tight fastball at you. If you play the game long enough, no doubt you've seen one or two. Like the pro ball player, you know the only option is to dust off and get back in the game.

The only chance you have to win is to play.