Saw the “mini-essay” below in the Liberty Mutual “Candrea on Coaching” email from ASA and Liberty Mutual  and thought it was worth passing along. According to the email the author is anonymous. But it really speaks to the attitude you need to bring both to fastpitch softball and to life in general. In fact, the two are so closely tied that it’s one of the beauties of our sport.

Like softball, life can knock you down, and when it does you’re likely to feel bad. But what separates the winners from the losers isn’t that the winners don’t get knocked down. It’s that they get up again. Here’s the essay. I also liked the kite quote at the end.

Get Up

It has been said that your success is insured when you’re willing to get up at least one more time than you get knocked down. Hey, we all get knocked around. Like it or not, it’s just a part
of everyday life. No one, not the most or least talented among us, are exempt from the trials and tribulations of day to day living. But it’s how we respond to these temporary setbacks that will
in large measure determine how far we go and how high we fly in life.

When life deals you a crushing blow, you must condition yourself to quickly pick yourself up off the canvas and get back into the game. Winners always do. They realize that it’s OK to get
knocked down and that it’s perfectly normal to feel saddened hurt or disappointed about being knocked down. Lets face it, nobody likes to lose or encounter difficulty. But the winners also
recognize that the getting up part is ninety percent of overcoming any adversity placed in their paths.

Don’t worry about getting knocked down. Since it’s going to happen regardless of whether we like it or not, especially when we’re passionately and enthusiastically chasing your dreams, we should vow to keep getting up each and every time. Laying there, moping and feeling sorry for themselves, isn’t going to get them to the winners circle.

Never lose sight of the fact that you were placed here for a reason. There is a song in you that desperately needs to be sung. There are just too many good times, good things and great people out there to enjoy to ever allow a temporary setback to hold you down or hold you back. When you vow to get up every time you get knocked down, you’re well on your way to living the life others only dream about.

“Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it.”