the Unexpressed Advantage

Showing up to work 4 hours late is not a recipe for productivity. At least I got a lot done while I was being late

One of the most interesting things about softball is the way in which it ends. Any experienced softball player will tell you that whenever you have the opportunity to chose whether you are batting first or second in the inning, you always choose second.

Choosing second looks forward to anticipation of the last inning. You see, in the final inning, if you are ahead and you are batting first in the inning, the game doesn't end until the opposing team has their final at-bat. During their final at-bat you'll find yourself in a precarious situation where the opposing team has the ability not only to tie the score with you, but if they get ahead, you have no more at bats.

Meaning that if you're leading by say, 3-2 at the top of the last inning, and the inning ends, and then one of your opponents hits a home run in the bottom of that inning with one other runner on base (totalling 2 runs), then that's it – it's over. No second chances, no more innings, no more opportunities. The game is just over and everybody goes home and does something else. The alternative is to be the team who is batting second, and that's a better alternative because at least you feel like you're in control of the end of the game. If you are batting second and you go into the bottom of the last inning down 3-2, then maybe you get your runs and win, or maybe you don't. Either way the game ends on your own terms and you give it your best try.

Life is loosely like this too. When we look forward in anticipation it's usually to our advantage. We can prepare for what's coming and plan to end things well with great effort and full energy. That doesn't mean that things will always end the way we want them to, but at least we'll be in a position to go down fighting when we do go down, and when we succeed there is cause for much rejoicing.

Sometimes though, either for a lack of preparation and foresight on our part, or for reasons beyond our control, we find ourselves in a situation where the ending is completely out of our control. We participate as best we can given the circumstances, but then before we know it something changes that we couldn't have really predicted. No amount of regret, frustration, guilt, or ambition can possibly change it. We can only look back, but we can't do
back.

And then before we know it, just like that…

...it's over!!