Catch the Ball

Several years ago I helped start a girls basketball program at a new charter school. We had twelve girls come out for the team. That was the good news. The bad news was only three had ever played basketball before. After the first practice my assistant and I were in complete agreement on what we needed to teach first, how to catch the ball. I told my players through the years that nothing good can happen unless you catch the ball first.

How many times have I seen a high level athlete, college or professional, drop an easy catch? It’s almost always for the same reason. They take their eyes off the ball before they catch it to see what they are going to do next. This has been a great lesson for me.

I used to live my life always thinking about what is coming next instead of focusing on the present moment. That resulted in me often dropping the ball. That’s been especially true in my dealings with others. My mind would be on the future instead of the person I was with.

Spencer Johnson put it this way in his wonderful book, The Precious Present. “Now he knew why he had enjoyed being with the old man. The old man was totally present when he was with the younger man. The old man was not thinking about something else or wishing he was somewhere else. He was fully present. And it felt good to be with such a person.”

Often now when I find myself not being present, I tell myself “Catch the ball.” It reminds me that the best way to prepare for the future is to give my full attention to what is in front of me right now, be it a task or a person.

May you have enough today, right now.