Playing the Game of Life


 As baseball season heats up, I am reminded of the days I worked as a Sales Manager at the Holiday Inn Metrodome in Minneapolis. It was an exciting time as the Twins were on their way to winning the World Series that year. One of my accounts was the New York Yankees who stayed with us whenever they played the Twins. One morning as several of us employees filed into work, a gentleman was getting his shoes shined. He asked, "Where's everyone going?" I punched him in the arm and said, "Some people have to work in this world, Bucko." He laughed and asked me my name. That evening my brother came to town to go to the Yankees/Twins game. As we were walking across the hotel lobby, the man who had been sitting in the shoeshine stand earlier waved and said, "Hi Trace." My brother was flabbergasted and exclaimed, "How the heck do you know him?"

"I don't, I said. Who is he?"
"He's George Steinbrenner. He owns the New York Yankees!" Rockie exclaimed.
My colleagues thought my playful banter with such a famous person was quite funny. Just like in Baseball, if we hold back and play it safe, we are not fully participating in the game of life. It might hold us back from expressing our creativity, saying what we really mean, or being playful or affectionate. Moreover, it might mean not standing up for a cause we support, staying in a toxic job or relationship, or not being vulnerable with others. The way to hit a home run in life is to take risks like being open to new things, meeting new people, and going to new places. This is how, I believe, we learn and grow.

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