Much can be gleaned by interacting with a baseball pitching machine. The best lessons taken from baseball or a softball pitching machine actually have nothing to do with baseball. Poised in front of the plate with balls flying by at 70 miles an hour offers itself to insight and awareness. Everyday a thousand things fly past every normal Joe and Julia walking the street. Decisions are constantly being made every minute. Should I wait for this car to pass, should I scratch my nose before putting down the donut, should I call Teddy back, take the stairs or elevator, use blue ink or black ink, zip up my fly now or wait until I can duck into a closet, run to catch the cross light or wait? Facing baseballs tossed by a machine is a good exercise and perfect metaphor for life.

A professional baseball player knows that every time he goes to the plate, the pitcher is going to try to get him out. That’s the game and the way it is played. The batter doesn’t whine about why the pitcher is a slider, or why he’s making it hard to hit a homerun. The batter isn’t mad at the pitcher because he is throwing fast balls and change ups to try and fool him. The batter doesn’t think about why the pitcher doesn’t like him. It’s how you play the game, the objectives are clear and the positions well defined. The batter is out if you miss when swinging at three good pitches. Is the batter angry at the man on the mound? Gosh darn no way admires the pitcher for his skill and is mad at himself for not doing better. The batter made his choices, to swing hard, to bunt or to watch the ball go by. If he pops up or strikes out, he goes back to the dugout, disappointed, but aware that he will step into the box again. He doesn’t blame anyone else or make a bunch of excuses, or feel like the pitcher was being unfair. He took his swings and he will live to swing again.

For most people life is not as black and white or as oppositional as baseball. Life is much more like facing a batting machine. The pitching machine has no worries. It doesn’t care if the batter is black, white, purple, tall, short, or shaped like a gourd. It just keeps throwing pitches. It doesn’t care if the batter zings it out of the park or fans the air.

That is the way life is for most people. Life comes at them a million miles an hour. Is it time to swing, bunt or duck? If they get beaned by a ball do they run out to the mound and pick a fight with the mechanical arm? Nope, , not a satisfying solution. A mechanical bean ball is not a malicious action. Life is just throwing things at them. They can spit and holler, cuss and kick. It does no good, but they can do that if it comforts them. The real energy needs to go into getting back into the box and facing the next ball, watch it come in and decide whether to swing or pass.

America’s past time has much to offer all of us. Baseballs basic rules can become rules for living. Take a swing or let it go, just don’t take it personal. In the game of life, we’re always in the box and the pitches just keep coming. That is what is so great; you can always take a swing.