Swing That Bat!

It's definitely baseball season and I'm not the only one with baseball on the mind. A recent column in our local paper written by Mark Patinkin and titled Gems from the diamond: You can't hit what you don't swing at, has got me thinking baseball again. The title caught my eye and I found myself pondering not only the truth of that statement, but also considering the reasons why many of us fail to get in the game, let alone swing the bat. 

Another baseball saying contained in Mr. Patinkin's column lends us some insight into the matter: "The real test isn't whether you can deliver at the plate on your home field with your mother cheering you on, it's whether you can do it while 20,000 voices are calling you a bum." At the heart of the matter, then, is how much belief do you have in yourself? How much confidence can you muster up when your back is against the wall? 

It is so easy for the onlooker to be a critic, so easy for the individual who doesn't put him or herself on the line to find fault or failure in the individual who is willing to take the risk. American editor, publisher and author, Elbert Hubbard pointed out the only surefire way to avoid criticism when he said, "To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." Effective certainly, but hardly the way to self actualization.

And criticism doesn't just come from the outside. The most destructive form of criticism is rooted in the voice of our own internalized critic: the voice that tells us to give up before we've even tried, the voice that tell us we have no business getting in the game, the voice that stops us from ever swinging the bat. We must learn to shut off those negative influences, to quiet that infernal, internal nag, and to face our fears or risk sitting the bench for the entire game. 

So, here is my challenge to all of you, dear readers: Stop for a moment and really listen to your inner critic. What is that voice saying to you, what is it stopping you from doing or becoming? Once you hear that voice, and understand the limitations it places on you, ask yourself this: Is it better to play it safe, to "do nothing, say nothing, be nothing," in the words of Elbert Hubbard or is it better to face down the fear, walk out to the mound and swing that bat regardless of whether the fans are cheering or jeering. 

I can tell you this for certain: if you never take the chance, if you never face down you're fears and swing that bat you'll never know what it feels like to hit one out of the park!