Stay Focused On The Next Pitch

Life seems to have the uncanny knack of throwing us a curve ball at the most inopportune time. The dictionary defines a curve ball as a pitch that is released in such a way "which causes the ball to drop suddenly and deceptively veer away from home plate." This past week I definitely had a curve ball thrown my way! I love the words "drop suddenly" and "deceptively veer away". That's what curveballs do in our lives - they drop in suddenly and deceptively cause us to veer away from our focus or goal. It's how we respond to the curve ball that separates the winners from the losers.

This week, I attended a workshop and was relying on my iPhone to stay connected with my business. My iPhone had other plans for me. While in the midst of typing an email, the screen went blank and the icons froze. I initially shrugged it off, thought a simple restart would clear it up but that was to no avail. I had to coordinate a delivery for a client this week, schedule appointments as well as coordinate our teleseminar but my iPhone was not on the same page as me and decided it needed a break. Even more uncanny, when I tried to access my email via the internet, it wouldn't connect. It was only Tuesday and I couldn't imagine going through the week without access to email, important phone numbers, etc. I had things to get done and needed the info that was now locked away from me! I was absorbed in figuring out how to get connected again and stressing at the thought of not being able to get everything done. I mentally checked out on the first morning of my workshop, completely caught up in my own thoughts and distracted from the valuable training I was receiving. My unexpected curve ball had successfully veered me off course and no longer was I focused on the workshop I had rearranged my calendar for and driven 7 hours to attend!

It was then that I realized when life throws you a curve ball, you CANNOT allow it to veer you off course. You have to get over it quickly and focus on the next pitch. You may miss a perfect opportunity to hit a home run if you stay focused on the curve ball. Being disconnected from email and the internet was probably the best thing for me this past week. A majority of things I needed to do didn't get done but in the scheme of things, there were no disasters, just some delays. But more importantly, once I accepted the curve ball for what it was, I was able to hit a home run by being able to totally focus on what I was learning without any distractions and gain more from my workshop than I probably otherwise would have. Sometimes those curve balls can be exactly what we need. Learn to let the curve balls go by and stay focused on the next pitch so you can take a swing at your next home run!