Third Inning, 10-1

Last night I was walking my dog and randomly passed a little league baseball game. As a huge sports fan, we sat and watched the game. Well, I watched the game and Paisley ate rocks. It was a perfect night, light breeze blowing, bright field lights just coming on, a faint smell of a fire burning in the distance, and BASEBALL at its purest. Normally I wouldn't blog about sports BUT something caught my attention last night.



Besides the amazing ambiance, the game was less than interesting. The score was 10 to 1 in the bottom of the third inning. It was pretty much a blowout! But I continued to watch because I enjoy cheering for the UNDERdog, and in this case I had a lot of cheering to do!

It was the bottom of the 4th inning that I overheard something VERY special come from the losing team's dugout. The coach was giving a mid-inning pep talk and right before his boys went up to bat he said this,

"I know you feel like it's over, but with that kind of thinking you already lost. If you believe you can take this game back you will, let's just focus on getting FOUR runs this inning."

Sure enough, each batter got a hit! Before you knew it the game was tied by the top of the 6th! It was one of the most epic comebacks I had EVER seen!

Then I started to think about the coach...

He knew just what to say when it needed to be said.

He gave the team a small goal, which he knew they would exceed. BUT sometimes that is exactly what you need... just enough to believe in, then you gain momentum.

I hear people say motivational speakers are worthless... but it's moments like this that make me feel like I'm on to something.

Ahhhh... the power of our words...what a responsibility.

Keep It Real.

Murph

Limitations

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to speak at a "conference" called Passport To Manhood.



I prepared my talk, sprinkled a little funny on it, and off I went.

When I arrived at the venue I felt good, confident, and excited. But when I walked into the gym, it was obvious something wasn't right. My audience was smaller than I expected! I mean SMALL, like CHILDREN SMALL!

I'm funny. My stories are funny. BUT when you are ten years old, my stories DON"T MAKE SENSE!

So to say the least... I BOMBED... to third graders!



Put me in a room with teens... it's home sweet home. Put me in a room with "pre" teens... welcome to my nightmare!

Are limitations a bad thing?

Webster defines limitations as: restraint.

Going against the flow is something I've become more attracted to over the years.

Limitations = a way of steering your life.

Limitations = a way to quickly identify your strengths.

Limitations = a way of not wasting time on things that you will never be good at.

Sometimes practice doesn't make perfect, it makes you tired. And that's OK.

NOW I'm not saying DON"t try things that you suck at. BUT I am saying that we need to learn from those moments.

We try new things all the time, but I'm sure we can all identify areas we aren't good at. So do we try, try, try again? Or are we wasting time on something we were never gifted with in the first place?

What are some areas in your life that come naturally? What do you receive compliments on from multiple people?

BELIEVE ME! I won't be employed by a daycare anytime soon... BUT I'm happy to know my boundaries, and be the strength to other peoples' weakness. We were created among thousands of people. Collaborate and you'll soon realize how balancing strengths and weaknesses with another person or group will help.

BIG shout out to Boys and Girls Club for doing this program for its young men!

It was hard talking to boys about being a man, when most of them have only met a few.

Time to Keep It Real my brothas! Manhood isn't determined by your age, job, or money. Take care of your responsibilities.





Keep It Real.

Murph