My dad has played baseball his whole life, including some time in the minor leagues. He lives in Tucson and at 78, he still plays three days a week all year long, pitching and hitting like an all-star.
I played softball about half my life until my shoulder and neck issues finally made me lay the bat and glove down for good. But we have that in common, a love for the game.
Six times, Dad has played in the senior World Series and I never went. Blame it on work, family, and years where we weren’t especially close.
He wasn’t going to play in it this year, but someone offered him a deal he couldn't refuse to be their pitcher. I really wanted to be there for this one, but for various circumstances, it just wasn’t going to work out.
Saturday evening, prior to the opening game the next day, I had my pajamas on for an early movie and bedtime. It was still bothering me that I wasn’t going to be there. Before we started the movie, I asked my husband to let me check airfare one more time, just in case there was a crazy drop in fares to fill the plane last minute.
There were no deals, and the price was still way more than I wanted to pay for a few days. There was only one "reasonably-priced" flight itinerary that would get me there in time for the game. It said "one seat left."
I had a ton of reasons not to do it and only one reason to go. I wanted to be there for my dad and see him take the mound and play at that level of competition. My husband asked me, "How will it feel to surprise your dad and be there?" I said, "Incredible beyond words." He said, "Then book it. Just book it!"
But... but... but... I had so many buts. It’s 6:30pm, the flight leaves in the morning. Tomorrow morning! I would have to pack asap. What about all of my appointments this week? What about a hotel? What about a car? How’s this going to work? How’s that going to work? And what about COVID and flying?
Hubby is pretty smart. He said first of all, grab that flight before it’s gone. Book one night at a hotel and get your rental car for a couple of days. You can figure out the rest as you go. I couldn't believe I would actually go through with it, but I did it and trusted things would work out.
I am a detail person, a planner to the nth degree. This was by far the most spontaneous thing I've ever done in my life. It’s one thing to say we trust things will work for our good; it’s another thing to live like it.
There will always be reasons to talk ourselves out of doing something radical. Something epic. Something worthwhile involving uncertainty, sacrifice or both.
“What if‘s” only lead to more “what if’s.”
Put another way, "What if" often leads to "If only ..."
If I let all the “what if‘s” keep me stuck in my safe zone, then I have to live with the resulting “what if’s” for the rest of my life:
What if I had done that?
What if I had gone there?
What if I had ... ?
Two months from now, none of the things I had to move around, sacrifice or cancel will matter. But for the rest of my life, I will remember going to the World Series with my dad at the last minute in 2020.
We finished the first day with a late burger at a sports bar and then stayed up even later looking at the pictures and videos I took of him and his team that first game. It was like having a slumber party with my dad. Priceless.
Sometimes you have to live a little. Sometimes you have to live a lot! This was one of those times.
There comes a time to stop focusing on all of the reasons to play it safe. We must weigh the intangible value of taking certain opportunities, especially when our guts are screaming JUST DO IT.
A good measuring stick is to ask ourselves, what will we wish we had done one year from now? What will have mattered the most then?
Let's look for chances to really live... to stretch and do something out of the box, even if it's impractical and wildly spontaneous. Hint: this doesn't have to cost a dime. This could be something that simply requires a sacrifice of time or an unusual gesture. Whatever it is, let's make the effort so that a year from now, we'll have more unforgettable memories to smile about.
***I'm including some photos of my adventure below in lieu of my painting of the week.
