Sometimes it takes a while for the real message to sink in.

That is certainly true about something I heard at a baseball clinic in Georgia a few weeks ago.

The speaker was discussing the challenge of playing the outfield. He said that even though there might be only one or two balls hit your way in a game, you must be ready on every pitch.

His words made sense when I first heard them, but they make even more sense now. That’s because they apply to more than just baseball; they apply to life itself.

You never know when a chance will come, but you must be ready all the time. Your mind must be open.

Look at the case of Jeremy Lin. Cut by two NBA teams, Lin is now leading a rebirth of the New York Knicks. They are on track to make the playoffs after spending most of the year headed nowhere.

Any NBA team could have had Lin, but everyone except the Knicks was blind to the opportunity.

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come,” said Abraham Lincoln.

“All the possibilities of your human destiny are asleep in your soul,” said John O’Donohue. “You are here to realize and honor these possibilities.”

Remember that life is like playing the outfield. You never know when the ball is coming to you.

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