When things are looking down, when life hasn't dealt you the best hand and you feel like it just can't get any worse; think about these three stories.
(1.) A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"
(2.) Willie Mays began his major league baseball career with only one hit in his first 26 at-bats. Though he went on to hit 660 home runs (third on the all-time list), and steal more than 300 bases, his debut was so unimpressive it seemed unlikely he would last more than a few weeks as a big-leaguer, let alone become one of the greatest to play the game.
The turning point for Mays occurred when his manager, Leo Durocher, found him crying in the dugout after yet another miserable performance at the plate.
The coach put his arm around Mays and said, "What's the matter, son?" Mays said, "I can't hit up here. I belong in the minor leagues."
Durocher said this to Willie Mays: "As long as I'm manager of the Giants, you'll be my centerfielder."
You know how the story ends. It wasn't long before Mays began hitting the ball, and he was on his way to becoming a legend of the game.
If Willie had been left alone in the dugout that day, his career might have ended before it started. Fortunately for him (and for baseball) someone believed in him even when he didn't believe in himself.
Durocher's speech wasn't "You're a disappointment. Do you know how much you're costing the team? You're on the verge on blowing your big chance!" He simply said, "I know that you can make it."
Durocher offered Willie Mays HOPE. The Little boy in the first story had hope.
(3.) Jackie Robinson was offered a chance to be he first Black person to play major league baseball. He never backed down, he never gave up, he never gave up hope. He simply went to work every day and did his best.
No matter what names they called him, no matter what they threw at him, he went to work.
No matter what the sports writers and racebaiters had to say, he went to work and kept going back to the plate. He continued to hit, field and steal bases.
It wasn't long before people didn't care what he looked like and he paved the way for guys like Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. Who are you paving the way for?
