Playing Pickle with a Beast

The Babe: You in some kind of pickle…right?

Benny: Yea....

The Babe: A baseball, with my John Hancock on it, went over a fence and you can’t get it back. Right?

Benny: Yea. Right!

The Babe: Then just hop over there and get it.

Benny: Wait! Wait. I can’t.

The Babe: Can’t what?

Benny: I can’t go in that backyard.

The Babe: Why not?

Benny: There’s a beast back there.

The Babe: What kind?

Benny: A giant gorilla dog thing.  That ate one kid already.

The Babe:  Is that a fact?  Sit down kid.  Sit down. I’ll tell you something kid.  Everybody gets one chance to do something great.  Most people never take the chance.  Either its cuz they're too scared or they don’t recognize it when it spits on their shoes.  This is your big chance.  And you shouldn't let it go by. I mean, remember when you busted the guts out of the ball the other day?  Someone’s telling you something and if I were you, I’d listen.

Benny: Yea. But what

The Babe: Hahaha. You’re the one with rubber legs…figure it out. 

***

The Sandlot was an old favorite of mine.  My dad and I loved anything baseball, including this.  

I love this scene.  A priceless baseball, signed by Babe Ruth himself, was hit over the fence into the yard controlled by The Beast.  A giant dog that was made mammoth-like in the imaginations of the boys. 

After countless attempts to save it, they all but gave up. 

In this scene, Babe Ruth comes to life and challenges Benny to simply face his fears and 'jump the fence'. 

***

This makes me think of how I am fighting life.  I have goals.  I have dreams. I know what I want out of life.  I know what I need out of life.  Benny knew what he wanted and what he needed.  He needed to get that ball back.  But there was the beast standing in his way. 

What is your beast?  What stands in the way of your dreams?  

My beast is my lack of self-confidence. My fear of failure.  My expectation of perfection at all times. 

I know what I want, I'm just sometimes terrified to go after it.  I'm afraid to go after what I need in fear that I will fail.  I'm afraid to go after what I want in fear that I won't have the stamina to make it to the finish line.  

I need to face my beast. I need to stand up to it and defeat it.  I need to know that in reality the only failure I can face is if I don't try at all.  If I give up before attempting.  

The success is not finishing the race, but running it.  

The success is not winning the fight, but not giving up.  

The success is in the journey, not the end. 

So, I'm going to do what Benny does.  

He jumps the fence and plays pickle with the beast.  

And wins. 

Maybe I'll invest in some PF Flyers first :-)