Update and some thoughts

Update on Jesus:He has finished radiation and started chemotherapy at this time. He has reached the point that food doesn't taste like anything edible. He will return to UCSF in the next few weeks for a followup and decisions on how to continue the fight.

Thoughts: "Take what they give you, don't try to do too much or force things." I can't remember when or where I first heard this, but it is the basis of my baseball philosophy. I tell the baseball teams this constantly. I suppose a slacker-dude could use that statement to argue for lack of effort, but that's the opposite of what I'm thinking.

In baseball you get three outs per inning on offense and three outs on defense. Some will argue against sacrifice bunts by saying you have only twenty-one outs a game, don't give them away. I'll not argue that today. What I'm after is the take what they give you part. If I'm in the field and the batter sacrifice bunts, make sure to get an out. We teach some outs are better than others, but they all count the same. How often do you see a team try to make the hardest play and end up with no outs? Instead of taking at least one of the outs they are being given, the team tries to force something and get nothing. YOU have now given the other team twenty-two outs instead of them giving you one of theirs.

The second part of the saying, "don't try too hard or force things," that seems to be the difficult part to understand. It seems to imply and many people seem to infer that one shouldn't put effort into our actions. Not so. The unspoken truth is that work, effort and practice will make something that was once hard, easier. What used to difficult and needed much effort and even forcing to accomplish, becomes easier with work and effort over time. And now what you used to have to force requires no forcing. It almost becomes receiving on your part. You can now take somethings that the other team wasn't giving. Think of the third baseman diving to the line, snagging a line drive and getting up to throw out the runner.

The same applies to life. Take the love you are given. Don't try to force yourself on others. Work and play hard and smart. Consider the impact of your actions on others. Are you receiving what you are being given? Are you forcing yourself in situations? Accept in others what they have to give. Don't force them to have your vision only. Maybe when they see something differently it's not them being wrong, but you forcing your view. And don't force your children to be what you cannot or will not.