FEAR STRIKES OUT
When I was around 7 or 8 years old, I played baseball in a “minor league,” (not quite Little League). I don’t remember anything about it, except for one at bat at the end of a game. As I recall, the game was in the balance, and the opposing pitcher was walking a lot of batters. Possibly he had walked the bases loaded, which wouldn’t have been uncommon in that league.
Anyway, I must have made up my mind that this pitcher was going to walk me as well, because after the count went to 3 and 2, I took a pitch right down the middle for strike three. Now why, you may be asking, do I still remember this, over sixty years later? Because it bothered me. A lot.
It bothered me because I didn’t even swing. I took the easy way out. I didn’t even try to hit it. And I think on some level that day, I decided that I’d rather go down swinging than ever feel like that again.
There have been several times in my life that I’ve had opportunities to venture out in some area. To try something I’ve never tried before. To back a friend in business. To venture out into side businesses myself. To sing at church. To umpire softball games. I could go on and on. I really could.
At the times these opportunities presented themselves, I would typically get all excited about the prospects. Sometimes, there would be some obstacle that seemed prohibitive, and I’d move on. But other times it would get to the point where I would say to myself, “If you DON’T do this, you’re always going to wonder what it would have been like.” And once it got to THAT stage, I don’t recall ever having said “No.”
Now it might make for a better motivational story to talk about some of the successes here. There have been some of those, but let me tell you, there have also been some SPECTACULAR failures. The “backing the friend in business” opportunity actually occurred twice in the 1980s, and BOTH were failures. Big failures that cost us our life savings and eventually resulted in bankruptcy.
But one of the successes was my decision to go into partnership in a stock brokerage firm with a guy I had met as a registered rep in the 1970s. That one decision has put food on our table for years, and financed some of my other foolishness, including those tough times of the 1980s. Another success, also around that same time, was to create a partnership and purchase a 24 unit elderly housing project. I managed it for 15 years, and although I was an unpaid general manager, my portion of the profit from the eventual sale of the project effectively restored the retirement savings that the bankruptcy had lost.
Other decisions were less financial... the umpiring, the singing (actually leading worship), a stint as a college professor, mission trips, and several other church opportunities (I have married four couples!) provided me with some great life experiences and very fond memories. But either way, good or bad, I had determined in my life, and even verbalized from time to time, that “if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.” No more “called strike threes” for this kid. So for years, I have had a saying over my desk that said:
“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.”
Visit any harbor and you will see a variety of ships. They look very different… and they act very different. Your power boat may go 3-4 times as fast as my sailboat. That fishing boat over there is fitted out for a very specific function. That tugboat is almost 100% engine down below, slow but very powerful.
So what about YOUR ship? What are YOU built for? It’s one thing for me to convince you to set sail out of the harbor, but your chances of success are slim (and the danger great) if you don’t know where you are going.
Every one of us has one or more God-given passions, and God-given abilities to pursue them. When we talk about “getting the best out of the rest of your life,” we MUST identify YOUR passions, motivate you to purse them, and equip you for the journey. It’s kind of a fun process, if you like to dream.
Over the years, I have had many, many conversations, first with my college students and more recently with my contemporaries, about our life passions. Try asking a friend, “So what do you want to do with the rest of your life?” and you’ll see what I mean. A good starting question is “What do you love?” If that’s hard to identify, a good follow up question is “What do you hate?” I’ll bet you have a pretty good idea already. You may have even identified one or two destinations. Go for it!
They say that nobody on their death bed ever wishes they had spent more time in the office. And the things that people most regret are the times when they didn’t try. I’m glad that my 8 year old self struck out those many years ago. It changed my life so much for the better, and gave me the courage to leave the harbor.
I love this sailing metaphor because I am a real life sailor. And the name of my first sailboat was “Journey.” Is that a fitting name, or what?
Anyway, I must have made up my mind that this pitcher was going to walk me as well, because after the count went to 3 and 2, I took a pitch right down the middle for strike three. Now why, you may be asking, do I still remember this, over sixty years later? Because it bothered me. A lot.
It bothered me because I didn’t even swing. I took the easy way out. I didn’t even try to hit it. And I think on some level that day, I decided that I’d rather go down swinging than ever feel like that again.
There have been several times in my life that I’ve had opportunities to venture out in some area. To try something I’ve never tried before. To back a friend in business. To venture out into side businesses myself. To sing at church. To umpire softball games. I could go on and on. I really could.
At the times these opportunities presented themselves, I would typically get all excited about the prospects. Sometimes, there would be some obstacle that seemed prohibitive, and I’d move on. But other times it would get to the point where I would say to myself, “If you DON’T do this, you’re always going to wonder what it would have been like.” And once it got to THAT stage, I don’t recall ever having said “No.”
Now it might make for a better motivational story to talk about some of the successes here. There have been some of those, but let me tell you, there have also been some SPECTACULAR failures. The “backing the friend in business” opportunity actually occurred twice in the 1980s, and BOTH were failures. Big failures that cost us our life savings and eventually resulted in bankruptcy.
But one of the successes was my decision to go into partnership in a stock brokerage firm with a guy I had met as a registered rep in the 1970s. That one decision has put food on our table for years, and financed some of my other foolishness, including those tough times of the 1980s. Another success, also around that same time, was to create a partnership and purchase a 24 unit elderly housing project. I managed it for 15 years, and although I was an unpaid general manager, my portion of the profit from the eventual sale of the project effectively restored the retirement savings that the bankruptcy had lost.
Other decisions were less financial... the umpiring, the singing (actually leading worship), a stint as a college professor, mission trips, and several other church opportunities (I have married four couples!) provided me with some great life experiences and very fond memories. But either way, good or bad, I had determined in my life, and even verbalized from time to time, that “if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.” No more “called strike threes” for this kid. So for years, I have had a saying over my desk that said:
“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.”
Visit any harbor and you will see a variety of ships. They look very different… and they act very different. Your power boat may go 3-4 times as fast as my sailboat. That fishing boat over there is fitted out for a very specific function. That tugboat is almost 100% engine down below, slow but very powerful.
So what about YOUR ship? What are YOU built for? It’s one thing for me to convince you to set sail out of the harbor, but your chances of success are slim (and the danger great) if you don’t know where you are going.
Every one of us has one or more God-given passions, and God-given abilities to pursue them. When we talk about “getting the best out of the rest of your life,” we MUST identify YOUR passions, motivate you to purse them, and equip you for the journey. It’s kind of a fun process, if you like to dream.
Over the years, I have had many, many conversations, first with my college students and more recently with my contemporaries, about our life passions. Try asking a friend, “So what do you want to do with the rest of your life?” and you’ll see what I mean. A good starting question is “What do you love?” If that’s hard to identify, a good follow up question is “What do you hate?” I’ll bet you have a pretty good idea already. You may have even identified one or two destinations. Go for it!
They say that nobody on their death bed ever wishes they had spent more time in the office. And the things that people most regret are the times when they didn’t try. I’m glad that my 8 year old self struck out those many years ago. It changed my life so much for the better, and gave me the courage to leave the harbor.
I love this sailing metaphor because I am a real life sailor. And the name of my first sailboat was “Journey.” Is that a fitting name, or what?
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