A simple game of catch
This is the third time trying to write this post. I’ve started it with statistics, anecdotes, and even a reference to my favorite TV show, The First 48. But somehow I keep coming up short.
It’s a rather straightforward proposition. Any man, or women for that matter, can in the span of 1 – 2 hours on a given Saturday, Sunday or any day really change someone’s life for the better? It doesn’t require any knowledge of psychology, a religious bend or even a license. You won’t be required to fill out a registration card, go to an orientation or commit yourself to anything in the future. On the face of it, the proposition is quite presumptuous. One word, one day and one moment that you spend with a random child in a park somewhere can change their life.
I found that every now and again activities that I took for granted were wondrous new adventures for others. As I reflected on those moments, I realized just how precious and life altering they could be. All of this visited me when I was throwing a baseball with my son in the park. A similar incident happened about two weeks before. Two children tentatively crept forward, edging ever closer to investigate the mysterious left hands of my son and myself.
“What’s that on you hand,” the little girl said. She couldn’t have been more than 6. She didn’t know that it was a baseball glove. She also didn’t realize the little round white ball we were tossing, was a hard baseball. She chased it with no respect for it’s ability to swell melons. Her slightly older brother meekly followed behind her, eager to take advantage of her curiosity. We let them wear our gloves and we tossed the ball back and forth with them. They giggled in excitement when they finally caught the ball. The little boy was quite good. Later another young boy who I recognized from our pick up game a couple of weeks earlier joined us.
The moment hit me, what difference would it make if a regular guy, just like myself visited one park with a football and a baseball just once a month? What difference would it make in someone’s life? What conversation would be had in that moment that would otherwise never exist. I firmly believe in the possibility that is pregnant in every moment. When you boil it down, it only takes one moment to alter the trajectory of our lives.
Think about it. Look at your life’s memorial landscape forever playing on that big screen in your head. Here you can view those scattered but important memories that shaped who you are. Many are feelings, and many are moments and people. We made decisions on who we would no longer date, we decided what our friends would look like, we decided who we would be because a moment changed your life. So, if we are aware of the power in one moment, does it stand to reason that this is the greatest gift we can give? We are blessed with these moments and these memories. We can also give them.
I’m wondering if any other men recognize the power in this random moment. It really is a simple game of catch. But the real question is not what you will be catching, but who
Dude, I feel you on this. People have been saying for years that kids just don’t play outside nearly as much as they used to. When me and my son go out and toss the football people seemed stunned when they walk by. or see my son outside with his camera or digging in the dirt with his gloves and kid sized wheelbarrow. I took my car to the repair yesterday and while I was pissed to have to pay for a diagnostic that turned up nothing, I stood there looking at a calendar and one of the aboriginal quotes struck me – we do not inherit this earth from our parents, rather borrow it from our children. Time to go out, take better care of our world.