Most of
you know I’m a pretty big baseball fan. Well, actually, I’m a pretty big
sports fan generally, but my favorite sport is baseball. So, even though
October was a pretty busy month, I paid as much attention as I could to the
baseball playoffs and to the World Series.
I don’t
know if you like baseball, but even for people who aren’t baseball fans the
playoffs are kind of special. What makes the playoffs special is that
every game is really important.
In the
regular season, a major league baseball team plays one hundred sixty-two games.
Because there are so many games, one individual game does not seem like it
makes a whole lot of difference. Teams try to win each game, of course,
but if they don’t, well, it’s not that big of a deal. After all, there’s
always another game tomorrow. In the playoffs, though, a short
series--best of five or best of seven--decides who stays in it and who goes
home. That means that losing any one game really hurts. On the
other hand, winning any one game can give a team a huge advantage. So,
each individual game is really important.
But you
know, if you think about it, each individual game in the regular season is
really important, too. The Seattle Mariners missed the playoffs this year
by one regular season game. That means a loss in some ordinary game in
May or June or August, some game that did not seem like it made a whole lot of
difference at the time, made the entire difference between that team making the
playoffs and having a chance to win the championship and not making the
playoffs and not having a chance to win the championship. They did not
realize it at the time, but it did. In reality, each game in the regular
season is very important. It just does not feel that way at the time
because, after all, there’s always another game tomorrow.
It seems
to me that there’s a parallel between a baseball season and our lives. We
go most of our lives feeling like one individual day really does not make a lot
of difference. We may try to do our best each day, but if something
happens that we don’t, well, it’s not that big of a deal. After all,
there’s always another day tomorrow. It’s only at the end of our lives,
when we start to realize that the season of our lives is nearly over, that each
day seems like it’s important and special.
But in
fact, each individual day of our lives is really important. Something
that happens when we’re in our teens or in our twenties or in our forties can
be the difference from our lives going in one direction and our lives going in
another direction. Or, it can be the difference from someone else’s life
going in one direction and that person’s life going in another direction.
We don’t realize it at the time, but it does. In reality, each day
of our lives is important. It just does not feel that way because, after
all, there’s another day tomorrow.
We cannot
go back and change the days of our past, of course. What we can do,
though, is treat each day that we get in the future as special and important.
We can make sure we don’t waste a single day of our lives. We can
treat each day as the precious gift that it is. And we can do whatever we
can to make sure that our loved ones do the same.
Take
advantage of this day. And when tomorrow comes, take advantage of
tomorrow, too. Make every day special. Because every day is a gift
from God.
No comments:
Post a Comment