Hello Everyone. On February 27, 2020, CREATION Life shared this story. Let’s see if it has a message for us today.
“Sports psychologist Herndon Harding tells the story of a baseball player in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system. When something went wrong with his game, the athlete would throw bats or verbally lash out – apparently as a way of preventing other people from criticizing him first. Such behaviour, though, made him somewhat of a target, particularly to two fans who heckled him on a routine and rigorous basis.
Once, after the batter had struck out, the two young men again began taunting him. With a look of determination, the player strode over to the fence where they sat a couple of rows back and gestured to them to come down. The hecklers weren’t so sure they wanted to meet an irate athlete carrying a baseball bat, but they gathered their courage and went. Instead of being furious, which would have been his typical reaction, the baseball player now chose to respond differently. Flipping his bat over, he grabbed it by the barrel, extended the handle to the two men, and said, ‘Do you guys want a Dodger’s bat?’
After that, they never badgered him again. Attending almost every game, they did nothing but support and encourage him just as loudly as they had previously heckled him. It was an event that changed the player’s life because he realized that he could choose to react differently.”
That baseball player and those spectators are not alone – we can choose to react differently too.
It’s World Series time. We won’t be on the field, and we may not be in the stands, but some of us will be spectators, perhaps in our homes, perhaps in a public place. What kind of spectators are we?
What are others learning about us when we respond to a player’s ability or his error on the field? Are we treating others as we would want to be treated? What are our children learning about our family’s spectator response? Let’s help our children be proud of us and our family’s name. Amen.