I know it’s a bit of a dying sport and, frankly, the games are getting longer and longer and more boring for many to watch…but growing up I absolutely loved baseball. I still do. Now the last 20 years in major league baseball it seems that there is some sort of cheating scandal going on from steroids to stealing signs from the other team. But at baseball’s core is a game of strategy and inches. As a catcher I was in the middle of it all. I controlled the paced of the game. What the pitcher threw. The location that I wanted him to throw it to. When a ball was put in play I told people where to throw it. I moved around players in the field based on who was up to bat or what the situation demanded.
Alright. So turns out, maybe I just had control issues. Well, I probably still do. I want to raise my kids a certain way in the hopes that they become people of respect and integrity. I want to write a fitness program so that people can see results that they want to see. I like Crossfit because I am in control of how fast I do or do not go. How much I do or do not lift. I want to run a class a certain way so that there is structure.
But as I go through that list (and maybe as I get older) I see, realize, understand that there is so little I have control over. Even if I had told the pitcher that I want a fastball on the outside corner, he may throw it on the inside corner. I may be yelling “2nd base, 2nd base!” and the outfielder may throw it over the head of the 2nd baseman. Even though I think I’m parenting the same EACH child may turn out a million different ways. Don’t even get me started about class structure!
What I am continuing to learn is the tighter I feel I am gripping onto whatever it is I think I am controlling – the more that thing seems out of my control. Not that anyone wants to read this word anymore but look at COVID-19. Right now it seems the more we lock down, the tighter our systems are – the more cases and deaths we see. (I’m not here to have an argument over this because I see the long term goal here). So then what? Do we just give up?
Maybe, often times, we need a different perspective of control. Instead of the direct outcome of what we are looking for perhaps we first need to focus on:
- Our attitudes – especially in times like this…positivity
- Our efforts – putting in the work needed instead of wishing for results or giving up
- Our care – for each other and ourselves
I know I can wake up on a day like today that is rainy and cold (again…like the rest of this week…and I have a job…and kids to homeschool…and I can’t see my friends….or go to the gym…this is miserable) and have, well, a less than ideal attitude, which leads to pretty much a miserable day (where I decide that exercise or what I eat is thrown out the window because it is, in fact, A MISERABLE DAY) and it impacts my effort and how I treat others and myself.
Trust me, this is not rose colored glasses life I’m talking about. This is a challenging time (to put it mildly). It is cold and rainy. But perhaps there is a subtle shift for us – even though it’s cold and rainy I’m going to drag myself into my basement or garage or living room and do the workout listed. I’m going to put in, to the best of my ability, the effort to being present with my kids/family/job/workout/health/life in general. Yesterday Sue posted in our private FaceBook page: “It took every ounce of me today to go into my garage and workout…I’m so happy I did! I feel 100 times better!” One shift in attitude led to a shift in effort led a shift in her own self care.
And the outcome, even though maybe wasn’t what she was originally hoping for, worked itself out as it needed to.
On this cold and rainy Tuesday…let’s have a Sue attitude and see how it filters into the rest of your day.