As an exercise in this, we have a softball team with work that began last year. It is in a recreational league and last season our record was 1-7. I had a very hard time with that because I'm used to playing on highly structured, championship teams but managed to check my competitive nature at the car door and have a good time on the field. It was fun to get to help people who had never played before learn how the game is played. We all had a blast and spent some good time together. Naturally when we were talking about having a team again this season, I signed up. We are 3 games in and looking to repeat our record from last season. Not really, but so far we're on that path. We play well when we get our focus on the game, but that's a challenge for us all. There are so many things happening in our lives and it is not always easy to keep our focus on what we are doing in the moment.
So my dilemma becomes resisting the desire to tell people what I've heard from coaches all my life, "You don't practice, you don't play" and so on. It's a tricky balance really to want to be able to let your hair down and have a good time, and still be able to smile after a loss. No one can say they like to lose all the time, and I'm probably the poster child for it. But there is some truth in the coach's statement. If you don't practice how then can you expect to win? Albert Einstein said it best, " Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
