Batters Up!

Take me out to the ballgame. It’s that time again – time to pull out the old baseball glove from its winter storage and rub in the oil to soften it so you’re ready for the season. I spent many an hour at the ball park with two sons playing T-ball and later baseball with one. Even a couple daughters dabbled in softball. Most likely many of you reading this article have spent many hours watching your children, a friend or relative or a favorite team play the game, or perhaps even participated in the game yourself.

While all parts of the game are important and all players necessary to play the game, I remember the great anticipation as it came time to bat when I played softball. I remember the excitement as well as the anxiety and fear, for what if I struck out. My heart would be thumping loudly inside of me even as tingles of excitement surged through me. “Please God, let me hit the ball,” was always my silent prayer.

That fear - the fear of not performing as expected – keeps many people from ever stepping up to the plate.
Our human nature often demands that we perform well, and many feel that if they cannot perform as expected, they are not worth much. So rather than try something and do their best, they hide from whatever is in front of them that they fear to avoid the possibility of experiencing disappointment as a result of not living up to expectations.

What I’ve learned along my journey is this: the only one who fails is the one who never tries. Anyone who has ever become successful in their endeavor will most likely tell you that they have become successful through their failures. But is it really a failure if something falls apart and doesn’t work? I don’t see it as failure, but rather growth, learning what works and what doesn’t work. Everything that matters takes time to build, which means taking a step, then another step, until you understand what is necessary to build your dream.

The issue here is that whatever is blocking you has been conjured up in your mind. We refer to these self-inflicted blocks as fear, yet fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. It’s a fake! This means your fears are self-created falsehoods that serve no purpose except to stop you in your tracks so you cannot fulfill your dreams. Perhaps you’re afraid you’ll fail and be embarrassed, and then would experience your self-worth drop several more notches further on the downward spiral to join with your other failures.

Our natural state wants us to feel like a success, be praised and appreciated for our worthiness and achievements, so that we feel as if we accomplished something of merit. And because of that conditioning
we received, we believe in order to be appreciated we must produce something. This gives a distorted idea of success.

But is it really the fear of failure that stops individuals from stepping up to the plate? Many notable individuals have stated that it is really the fear of becoming successful, not failure, which keeps people from moving forward and taking action. You see, if you actually do hit the ball, you have to run, and run fast, to get around the bases and perhaps make it to home plate. There’s risk as you run. A player could catch the ball and tag you out, or you could slip and fall and be tagged out, and never reach home plate.

The same thing happens in your life. There is a risk as you decide to take action. If you step up to the plate, you are stepping into new territory where there is fear for the unknown. There’s the possibility that it might not work out as you want, or there could be obstacles along the way. But the biggest fear is that you will become successful and have to live up to your commitment, since you stepped up to the plate and took those action steps.

I believe we have the power and capability to do anything we want to do. The key is to let go of the fear. The fear is simply a result of our feelings of low self-worth, and not understanding and accepting our power and magnificence as a Divine creation of our Creator. That power is available if we plug into the power source, our Creator. If you want something electrical to work, you must first plug the item into the electrical socket, the power source. It takes only a moment, but without that connection your item will not work.

The same is true for each of us. Plug yourself into the power source and you can do it, whatever it is! And remember something: Anything you can imagine, you can do, because if you believe you can, or you believe you can’t, you are right! Don’t let fear stand in the way of your greatness and keep you from bringing the desires of your heart into fruition. All you need do is step up to the plate, get in position, and swing hard. Batters up!