I’ve been at my son’s baseball tournaments for over a week now. Needless to say, the parents have countless hours to talk and get to know each other. We were talking about our kids’ futures in baseball. Every single one of them said they didn’t know if their son will play in college and they are certain they will not play professional ball, due to the intense competition. These kids are talented and fully capable of going all the way, yet the parents were very wishy-washy in their vision for their future.
I asked why they felt that way and they said that they are afraid their kids will get their hopes up and be disappointed if they don’t make it.
I was intrigued because in our family, it is a very different story. From the moment my son told me he wanted to play in the big leagues when he was 10, we talk about it not as a dream, but as a reality.
We talk about what to do when he gets approached by scouts, offered a scholarship, gets drafted. Which team will he choose? Will he finish college? We talked about where he will live if he plays for different teams and how he can have a business while he plays pro ball. My son is 14.
Once someone told him he needed a Plan B, just in case he doesn’t play pro ball and he said, “Why? That’s what I’m going to do”. The only image he has in his mind is achieving his goal and nothing else exists.
In life, our biggest downfall is our familiarity with the word “impossible”. We know what won’t work and what can’t be done. We know what is considered hard and we know when the odds are against us. We know enough to hurt us. We know enough to stop us from getting what we want.
There was a little boy who grew up in the projects of Brooklyn. His father was a truck driver and they were very poor, but he always knew would be something great. He knew that the access to his goal was a scholarship, since his family could not afford college. He worked hard, excelled in sports and earned a football scholarship. After graduating with a degree in communications, he later went to work for Xerox then got hired by a small coffee shop called Starbucks and created an empire. ~Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks that led Starbucks out of a decline and into greatness. (I’m writing this sitting at Starbucks before the game!)
Howard Schultz had a burning desire. He had a definite purpose and believed it could be done, even though the odds were against him.
When you have a goal, but you keep your eyes open for other opportunities just in case you fail, you have taken yourself out of the game. In order to achieve, you must not only believe, but you must be ALL IN.
I see this all the time in relationships. People are still looking around just in case this one doesn’t work out. They don’t have a burning desire to make their current relationship work. But when I see couples who have that desire, no obstacle can stand in their way. They eventually find their bliss.
With any goal, if you have a back door, you will end up using it. Lock the back door and leave yourself no possible way of retreat. Think like you have to make it work.
Place all your energy, willpower and effort behind your goal. You must have a burning desire, almost an obsession to achieve it.
My son and I have a vision…. I am sitting in the stands on opening day. He is on the mound ready to throw his first pitch for the Yankees, his MLB debut. A tear rolls down my cheek as I remember his first season of baseball at age 10, when the coach told him he was not good enough to pitch, when he sat on the bench desperate to get on the mound.
He throws the first pitch, the crowd goes wild. I can see that little smile on his face, the one that he gets when he is proud. I thank God, because without His help, he would not even be alive today. He healed him of cancer and gave him the opportunity not only to live his dream, but gave him a platform to inspire children all over the world that anything is possible.
This vision motivates my son every day and I keep it alive inside him when the going gets tough. By changing his perspective, we turned tragedy into opportunity and created a burning desire to fulfill his purpose on earth.
On Saturday, a college scout clocked him pitching at 81mph, at only 14 years old. The same coach that said he was not good enough to pitch walked up to him and said, Wow, you did amazing. My son told me later how good it felt to do what others said he couldn’t.
What is your vision? What is your dream?
Do you see your obstacles as opportunities or barriers?
Untie the ropes, lose sight of the shore and let yourself sail without looking back. Create a positive meaning for your challenges and get a fresh perspective that will ignite your fire.
Why not you? Why not now?
Dreams have no expiration date. Go create what is in your heart…… don’t wait another day.
Love and Blessings,
Carrie
