First Pitch
Everything in life can be and should be a learning experience. Several weeks ago, I received a call from the athletic department at my alma mater, Oral Roberts University. They wanted to invite me to throw out the first pitch at the final game of their season against Wichita State University. I had two immediate reactions to this call. First, I was honored that they would ask me to throw out the first pitch; but secondly, I felt overwhelmed with fear. As a blind person myself, the thought of walking into a noisy, crowded stadium at the beginning of a Division 1 baseball game to throw the first pitch seemed daunting and terrifying. As it’s been a long time since Little League, I wasn’t sure I could even throw a baseball, and as a blind person, I wasn’t sure where to throw it.
My initial reaction, after feeling both flattered and fearful at the invitation, was to turn it down. But I always remember the words of my late, great friend and mentor Coach John Wooden, “The things we think we can do, we should do. And the things we are afraid to try, we must do.” Coach Wooden went on to explain to me that winning or losing becomes habit forming, and if we allow ourselves to act upon fear, it can rule our life.
I believe every decision should be made based upon facts not frustration, fatigue, or especially fear. My friend, the legendary author and speaker, Zig Ziglar, was fond of breaking the word “fear” down by using each letter of the word as an initial: F.E.A.R. Zig described it as False Evidence Appearing Real. Whether a threat or a fear is credible or not, if we believe it’s real or treat it as if it’s real, it can become a part of our reality.
We’ve all had the experience of watching a scary movie. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt it’s just a film, and those are only actors on the screen; but as we focus on the movie, our mind begins to absorb that false evidence, and it begins to appear real to the extent that our heartrate and respiration will increase, and we will experience other real physical impacts from that false evidence. The way to temporarily deal with that fear is to simply turn the movie off, but the way to eliminate the fear permanently is to watch the movie and get past the fear. If you watch a scary movie once, it’s frightening. If you watch it ten times, it becomes mundane and boring.
In my life, I’ve agreed to perform in several live Broadway shows, play a piano for an arena full of people, act in seven movies, and now throw a pitch at a baseball game. If you’re wondering how my pitching debut went, it went fairly well for a blind guy. I got it over the heart of the plate, but skipped it in a bit short. However, a very quick and talented young catcher made me look better than I deserve. My final score was Jim: 1, Fear: 0.
As you go through your day today, eliminate fear from your life.
Today’s the day!