The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph

by Shawn Green

Of course, it’s not uncommon to make the mistake of comparing where we are in our lives to where we should be. The truth is that there is no such thing as where we should be; we are where we are, period. Nonetheless, our culture provides limitless illusory images of what our lives should be. We are objectified and trained from an early age to drive toward the future to achieve and acquire more. We’re told that’s where the happiness lies. This only distances us from happiness. Consider the workaholic, who tells himself he’ll be satisfied with the next promotion, conquest, or raise. He dreams about acquiring a bigger house, fancier car, golf membership, trophy wife. However, should he reach these goals, he will not be satisfied because new ones immediately arise. His life will feel empty because he continues to believe that only the next acquisition or achievement can fulfill him, but it never does. Ironically, if that same hard-driving man ever discovered how to live in the moment, rather than in the past and the future, his work would likely produce even better results than his obsessive drive ever did.