Walter Hagen [famous golfer] said,
“…stop and smell the flowers along the way.”
Imagine taking 10 to 15 minutes each day and let your five senses take over. Observe and absorb versus using our busy lives as excuses to miss the little things.
Unfortunately worrying about what everyone in the Lawn-Chair Convention thinks consumes so much of our time we miss the opportunity to help our sons understand this simple game, much less enjoy our son’s improvement. Nope! Too often our thoughts are directed to what Gus, Mary, or Bill think, versus experiencing the development our own son.
I argue it skews a player’s approach to hiccups [e.g., bad outing]. Instead of taking the time to understand the issue and why he failed, he quickly repeats what he believes his parents want to hear, “I went 0-3, guess I need another hitting lesson?”
I am sure it is no surprise to you, your sons want to make you proud. So, by coming right out and admitting defeat, it just might make his ride home a little bit more enjoyable. If nothing else, they attempted to say what they believed you were going to say.
If you don’t already, may I recommend you help him understand Failure is an Opportunity to Improve. Approaching Baseball and Life this way will help him tackle problems through the development and improving his decision making skills.
I am not advocating you patronize him, but take time to, “Thank him for his effort and the opportunity to see him play” As your conversation about the game progresses, calmly ask him, “what does he thinks he needs to improve on?” As with most of us, your son will appreciate the fact you actually care what he thinks.
A relationship we all want to have with our son before he leaves the nest and heads to college. As the Trace Adkins song suggests, one thing is certain,
“You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast”
Until next blog,
Be Thankful, Thankful Every Day!
Al McCormick
