Thursday, July 9, 2009

Baseball

I was 14 yrs old and we were playing baseball at Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan. Our team was from Prairie River. It was a practise before the game. I was at home plate, hitting out, and we were shagging fly balls. My attention was diverted for a moment by something or other and when the fielder threw the ball in from left field, it conked me on the head. I fell to the ground and had a momentary lapse in conciousness. My dad ran over to me as I was groggily awakening. "Always keep your eye on the ball" he said. Good advice, if a trifle cavalier, given my state of recovery. Eye on the ball is called focus. It's the same advice as "keep your stick on the ice". It's maintaining a state of readiness. Life is so fragmented these days that we have a hard time to achieve this effective state. You can only do one thing really well at a time if you are anything like me. It's easy to be distracted. If you are easily distracted on the ball diamond, you are known as "rabbit ears". The catcalls will be relentless. If you are not easily distracted, they may be provoke those who want your opinion now! Fuggedaboudit! I'm not about to get conked on the head again. I'm following my dad's good advice!

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