For Today

The legendary Babe Ruth was once asked what he thought about when he struck out. His answer: “I think about hitting home runs.”

We may not be baseball sluggers, but Babe has something to teach us: Like most people who achieve success, he learned to forget about his past failures and focus on his present goals. He didn’t let the past define or confine him: Every time he stepped up to the plate for a new at-bat was a fresh opportunity to swing for the stars. And if he wiped out, well, so what? Failure wasn’t fatal — it was effort.

Let’s embrace the Babe’s winning at-bat attitude! Just for today, let’s:

Forget the past: If we had a bad day on the page yesterday, so what? Today’s a fresh new day! Endless possibilities await us — the perfect word, the best phrase, a novel way of handling a problem, a great idea — any one of which can transform our work. The bright empty page on our desk or computer holds all of these if we can stay in the present.

Accept failure: Most of us, myself included, have a hard time coping with failure. We see it as a short-coming in ourselves — a weakness, a lapse, a lack of ability or opportunity. The Babe didn’t see it that way. He saw failure as a natural part of the rhythm of his game. He was the home-run king, but he also held the record for most strike-outs, because you can’t hit home runs unless you’re willing to swing your bat. He knew that striking out was just a step on the path to another home run. Instead of getting angsty about his outs, he accepted them with grace and humor.

Play big: Even when he failed, the Babe didn’t shrink from the plate or hold back. He always went all out — he gave every swing everything he had. He never played small — he always played big. He always took a mighty swing. And when he connected — watch out!

OK, here’s our plan for today — forget the past, accept failure as the price of admission, and swing for the stars as we all write on!

About karinwritesdangerously

I am a writer and this is a motivational blog designed to help both writers and aspiring writers to push to the next level. Key themes are peak performance, passion, overcoming writing roadblocks, juicing up your creativity, and the joys of writing.
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