I never really thought of myself as a baseball player...

The world can be a sucky place, and many people strive to avoid the suck.
This is likened to a baseball game wherein people view the purpose of life as not striking out.

And it makes sense..

if the purpose of life is to avoid pain.
Don't go up to bat, don't swing, don't strike out.
There are times we've probably all felt like that or done that.

But it is limited and incorrect.
The purpose of life is to hit that ball.
It is to run bases and slide hard into second.
It is to swing for the fences and clear the bases.
It is to get a base hit over the pitchers head.

Singles, Doubles, Triples, and Homeruns are only available to those who are willing to stand up at the plate, swing, and strike out. You never will hit the ball from the dugout.

And that's where so many of us get caught up or astray.

We live life to avoid striking out because we have been taught, or assumed, or believe, or interpreted that striking out is a bad thing.

Well..
#1 on the all-time strike outs list, with 2,957, is Hall of Famer Reggie "Mr.October" Jackson.
A 14 time All-Star, a 5 time World Series Champion (2 times World Series MVP)..
his number retired as both a New York Yankee and an Oakland Athletic, the man clearly swung his bat; a lot.

And now.. the crunch time.
Every time we swing the bat, we learn.
Every time we strike out we are one swing closer to that next hit.
Swinging is not a bad thing, it's how we learn.
Whiffing through the air is not a failure but a success.

As is often the case with many things in life.. it's all how we frame it and how we view it. We are often so quick to attribute failure to our actions, or failures to act, when in fact it's all part of moving towards hitting that ball. Everything that has occurred to this point has yet again been preparing you for the next at bat and the choices you make will teach you and guide you to modify your swing. Even sitting in the dugout and watching teaches you a few things, and there is sometime when we do get benched and sit a couple out, but ultimately we are to get to our spot in the rotation, shake it out in the warm up circle, and then step up to the plate.

Hit or miss we're where life occurs.
So swing away, they're all cheering us on.