Home Plate

Sometimes, life throws curve balls at you. If you're lucky, you see them coming and can duck out of the way. However, sometimes they hit you unexpectedly and all you can do is pick yourself up, pat yourself down and make sure everything still works. You step up to the plate again because playing the game is important and it's worth it. Your team needs you - and you need your team. You still have the memory of getting hit, but you have to deal with it in order to make the game move forward.

Sometimes life is like that.

Then, sometimes life throws other things at you...softer things that you have to look for, or you'll miss them.

Things like... snuggling with my two-year-old daughter as she sees fireworks for the first time out the back window of our house. She giggled and pointed and kissed me after each one. Even though eventually she yelled "That's Enough!"... she still ran back to the window every time they started up again. If you are fully present in those kind of moments, they can take your breath away, like they did for me.

Often you aren't fully present and some things are so soft that you take them for granted. Simple gestures can be overlooked, words can be said so often that you don't hear the meaning anymore. Everyone has parts of their lives that they take for granted...every single person. It doesn't matter which position you are on the field, everyone can get hit with the ball.

Maybe that is why the curve balls come, because we aren't looking, we aren't paying attention. They are meant to wake us up...both batter and pitcher. The best we can do is put our helmets on, step up to the plate, take another swing and hope this one connects.

If we are lucky, after every firework...there will be kisses.