You'll Get It Next Time!
by Carl Mays, CSP, CPAE

A friend named Buddy shared with me a story of hope, inspiration and encouragement. He witnessed the story unfold while attending a ball game.

No, it wasn’t an NBA playoff game or an NFL football game or a major league baseball game. It wasn’t even a college or high school event. As a matter of fact, to the players in the contest Buddy watched, the Little League is only something that they can aspire to reach when they’re older.

Buddy was observing a group of six and seven-year old kids try their hands at the game of baseball. He saw the kids swing bats and miss.He saw them let ground balls go through their legs and fly balls pop out of their gloves, when they were even able to get their gloves on the balls. He heard coaches applaud, encourage them and say, "That’s all right. Forget it. You’ll get it next time".

"Next time" did come for one of the little guys named Brandon. The Reds and the Cubs were playing. It was the bottom of the last inning. The Cubs were leading by one run, but the Reds were at bat with no outs and the bases loaded. The hitter made contact and lifted a high fly ball that sailed over Brandon’s head as he was playing third base. He staggered into shallow left field and circled under the ball. He reached out. The ball hit his glove. And stayed.

His coach yelled from the dugout, "Step on third!" Brandon dashed to the bag and touched it ahead of the runner, who had already headed toward home plate and now retreated to the base. "Tag the runner!" the coach shouted again, pointing toward the runner between second and third. Brandon ran toward the scurrying player and successfully touched him before he was able to make it back to the bag. An unassisted triple play!

Bedlam reigned. You would have thought you were at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The late sportscaster Harry Caray would have loved it. Players from both teams piled on Brandon to congratulate him, before he was even aware of exactly what he had done. The Reds and the Cubs put Brandon on their shoulders and carried him around the field.

Parents and fans of both teams applauded and laughed and discussed the once-in-a-lifetime event Brandon had just experienced. He had swung and missed balls earlier. He had let a couple of grounders go through his legs or bounce off his chest. He had dropped a pop-up. But this time, "next time" had come for Brandon.

There’s a message here for all of us. We all have someone who believes in us. This someone encourages us to forget about past disappointments and failures. This someone tells us to keep giving it all we’ve got, to keep on keeping on. This someone tells us, "You’ll get it next time."

And when we do get it, people will come together to congratulate us. The late Winston Churchill advised, "Never, never, never, never, never give up". If no one has ever told you before, then believe me, Churchill was telling you, "You’ll get it next time".

Carl Mays, professional speaker, consultant and writer, can be contacted at carlmays@carlmays.com. Visit his web site at www.carlmays.com.

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