I was fortunate enough to be able to see all three (so far) of the Red Sox/Yankee games this weekend. Fortunate might be a strong word, seeing as how the starting pitchers for the Red Sox seem to think that the first inning of every game is still warm-ups and not, you know, actual game play. The Sox need to win tonight just to tie up the series. But still it’s nice to be able to watch the Sox even though I live 1600+ miles away from Fenway. I don’t watch baseball with the same fervency that some of my friends do, though, so it can lead to an abstract train of thought, going from baseball to God only knows what. This one started with watching David “Big Papi” Ortiz draw a walk.
David Ortiz doesn’t run fast. Granted, he doesn’t have to run at all when he draws a walk. And as only the 22nd person to hit 400 home runs, he’s pretty much not expected to run much the rest of the time. But now that he was on first, he was gonna have to run if someone got a hit. And that’s when I started wondering about the creation of rules in baseball.
Did they say from the get-go that once you pulled a player out, he was done for the day? Or was not stated until one day when a manager realized he could put his big hitter up and, if he didn’t hit a home run but got on base safely, replace him with a faster runner but a weaker defender? And when the next inning started, he simply switched them back? There maybe an answer out there, but I’m not gonna lie-unless I see it written in Abner Doubleday’s handwriting I may doubt it. Not because I’m a skeptic, but there more debate over when and where the first game of baseball was ever even played that makes presidential election year politics seem downright civil. And don’t get me started on the whole DH thing.
But the fact is at some point this rule was created, debated and formalized, and now it’s part of the game. If you’re gonna play ball, you gotta play by the rules. But it got me to thinking about the rules of our own lives, and the ones we follow that we don’t need to. And I’m not talking the whole “No killing” thing, and the many others of the same ilk that help provide for a somewhat regularized society. I mean the ones that we have inherited without even trying. There are things we all do because we have them instilled in us, even if they’re not the most positive ways to live our lives. Throughout our formative years we’re shaped by events that become part of who we are, and even as we get older and recognize them as not being positive, or even worse dangerous and counterproductive, we find ourselves still following the rules we no longer understand.
It’s as simple as a moment when we find ourselves saying “Oh, I can’t do that.” Once again, if what we’re saying is “Oh, I can’t club that baby seal” maybe we should listen to that. I’m speaking of moments when we find ourselves presented with the opportunity to do something new and productive, something to help us move forward and live a better life. It’s so easy to get caught up in the doubt and hesitation that keeps us from doing it without ever recognizing why we’re letting these preconceptions stop us.
Next time you’re presented with a new, positive opportunity and find yourself hesitating, stop and ask yourself why. And if you can’t answer yourself, maybe that’s a rule you’re living by that isn’t yours. Instead, take time with the moment to find a better way to live. Write your own rules, and you’ll learn that they’re the right rules to live by.
PopcornJackTerry 