In and Over, Now!

"In and over, now!" I heard the coach yell for what must have been the hundredth time - and it was only the 5th inning.

There's a bare spot in left field where the grass no longer grows. There's a spot just like it in the center and right fields, too, from season after season of kids standing in the same place waiting on the next play.

That spot, however, is not where the coach wanted #12 to be yesterday.

He and the coach were in a battle for the better part of the first half of the game.

#12 would move to the spot, and the coach would yell at him once more to get in and over - closer to the infield and further from the foul line.

But no matter how many times Coach shouted the directions, the player kept drifting back.

It was almost like the raw dirt was magnetic, with #12 unable to escape its pull.

The more I watched, the more I realized that, although not magnetically, he was indeed drawn toward that spot.

With no grass, the bare spot is very noticeable.

As if it were put there intentionally to mark the spot where the player should stand.

"Number 12! In and over! NOW!!!!!" I heard once again.

Now, I know quite little about baseball. Those spots may be worn bare for a good reason. Perhaps that is where the players are supposed to stand, after all.

I don't know.

But I do know that's not where #12 needed to be.

The coach knew that's not where #12 needed to be.

But #12 was very comfortable there.

CRACK!

As the batter sprinted, the ball went over the tip of the shortstop's glove, and although #12 ran in and over as fast as he could, he came up short of the catch, and the ball bounced past him.

The batter arrived safely at first base, and the opportunity to make an easy play was forever lost.

On the very next play, I heard the coach yell again. "#12! GET IN AND OVER!!!"

At that moment, I saw so many missed opportunities of my own.

I saw all the times I stood in my spot - my comfort zone - because it was just that: comfortable.

I saw the time about 15 years I passed on the opportunity to buy a Porsche 911 for $24,000. It's worth about $65,000 today.

I saw the time I passed on buying a small commercial building for $40,000. It's worth about $120,000 today.

Like that bare dirt in left field, my comfort zone drew me in.

And I missed out.

Because opportunity does not live in comfort zones.

Opportunity exists closer to where the action is.

And life, like a little league baseball game, is short. You put on your uniform, show up to the field, and before you know it, you're in the lineup telling the other players, "Good game, good game, good game..."

You're playing that game right now.

The batter is in the box, and the pitcher is winding up.

Where are you going to stand?