Errors – it’s how you handle ‘em

I was recently asked to write a piece on my life lessons from baseball, for THRIVEcny magazine, a classy and inspiring wellness oriented publication.  The editor has graciously allowed me to post it here.  Be sure to check out THRIVEcny online:  http://www.thrivecny.com/

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 Errors – it’s how you handle ‘em

A bit over 60 years ago, I asked my grandmother what the boys I saw in the distance were doing. “They are playing baseball,” held no meaning for me then, but it is safe to say that since that explanation, baseball has been a significant influence in my life.  

It would be inaccurate to say that baseball has defined my life, but it is correct to say that it has certainly lent definition to it. I have played, coached, umpired, photographed and written about baseball – thousands of games – from Little League through collegiate, international and professional levels. 

And what has come of it? What have I learned from this decades-long investment of time and effort? One of the most important things I have learned is the ability to understand, accept and deal with failure.

In essence, the degree to which you succeed directly relates to how you respond to failure.

Baseball can be a humbling game. In every game the action starts over with every pitch. There are hundreds of opportunities to succeed or fail, usually interconnected. If the batter misses a pitch, his failure is the pitcher’s success. If the batter hits the ball hard, he is successful up until the ball is caught and he is out. The batter’s success and the pitcher’s failure are typically inversely related.

The inherent frequent failure in baseball does not have to affect the overall quality of performance. In the process of amassing 3316 hits, future Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter has also made some 7300 outs. That’s a lot of failure for one of the most successful players in the history of the game.

Moment by moment we face the opportunity to succeed or fail.  

We make occasional errors, and how we respond is the key to eventually succeeding.

When I misplayed a ground ball as a college freshman, it was an error. Throwing my glove to the ground in anger compounded it. My father explained rather pointedly that I had allowed an error, a momentary failure, to unbalance me. The mistake of becoming angry rather than accepting my error and getting back to work created unnecessary stress -- stress that would likely manifest itself again the next time a ball was hit to me.

Practice is the key to minimizing errors in baseball and in our daily lives. The more we prepare, the less prone to making errors we become, but practice does not, in fact “make perfect.”  

The more I was able to accept that an occasional error was more occupational hazard than failure, the more I was able to welcome the chance to succeed rather than be intimidated by the possibility that I would not.

 This acceptance made me much more self-assured as a player and umpire, and definitely provided confidence that carried over into my thirty-two year career as a teacher and beyond into all areas of my life.