You Reap What You Sow; Except You Don't

I haven’t written a single word about the year I got to play college baseball again.  Quite frankly, I’m still not ready to – I’m too afraid of what I’ll type.  As I continue to transition back into ‘reality’ I’ve set and begun the process of working towards many big goals ahead.  However, I’ve put one of them off – until now.  A major goal of mine is to improve my skills and to establish myself as a writer, and so, I suppose it’s time to actually write something again.

This is going to be my avenue I use to write about my two favourite things: lifting and baseball.  I’ve settled on “Strength, Baseball, and Life” as the headline on the website because in my experience only the game of baseball, and the weight room will humble you and knock you to your knees like life inevitably will.  Both the iron and the game will kick your ass if you’re not prepared for them.  They’re both great equalizers and just like life, you’ll only get from them what you put in.

Except for the fact that last sentence just isn’t true a lot of the time.  Sometimes you’ll get what you put in.  But the harsh reality is quite simply that life isn’t fair.  People are going to let you down.  You can put in all the work and get injured.  You might not get the job you deserve.  But there in lies the catch: life doesn’t owe you a thing, and neither does the game, and certainly a bunch of metal plates and bars don’t owe you shit.  You owe yourself, and those people closest to you.  So, understand this fact and stop being naive and wallowing in self-misery every time something unfair happens to you.

This might sound incredibly negative and pessimistic, but being realistic and learning to adapt to the harshness of life that eventually meets everyone is important so that you can roll with it.  Because guess what, people close to you are going to get sick and die – and wait for it … so will you.  This may sound morbid but it’s better to have this understanding and live accordingly with the fact that we, and everyone we love have an expiry date, that could come at any time.

As human beings we have a remarkably incredible affinity for taking things for granted, and so reminding yourself that this all ends is vital to eliminating regret.  Failure isn’t misery but temporary.  Regret is fucking misery.  So don’t play the game of baseball timid.  Ask the waitress for her number.  Get off your phone and be present with your friends because it’s the moments of tedium with the boys that are the best of all.  Tell those close to you what they mean to you, and above that – show it!  Most importantly, live life on your terms, not small but boldly in all that you do.