"Just play catch"

Family time is important to me. Yesterday, I attended my nephew's little league baseball game and loved every minute of it.

For one, I played baseball year-round through high school and played for the Univ. of Maryland's club team. I love the Orioles and the game of baseball. So, I'm excited to see my nephew on the field. I play catch with him and help him out where I can. It's funny because just watching him makes me want to put a glove on and get out there (anyone involved in a competitive softball league?).

For two, not only are these kids learning the basics of baseball and valuable life lessons (teamwork, responsibility, hard work), when I'm involved I am learning as well!

My nephew pitched in the last inning to close out the game. Our whole family was there, so naturally he wants to impress us. I remember this feeling all too well -- essentially, butterflies in the stomach. It isn't exactly the perfect match while pitching. So, he's struggling a bit in the beginning and our whole family is yelling from the stands: "follow through!", "take a breath!", "c'mon get it in there!". And I remember this feeling all too well. It's annoying. Everyone in the stands feels like they're the ultimate athlete when they're not actually playing. And the athlete has to learn how to deal with the pressure of the noise. That's when a parent next to me yelled, "just play catch out there!". And that's the one I was hearing!

Just play catch. It's a game. Don't forget that you have school tomorrow, you'll have dinner on your plate and get to enjoy the precious video games later on. Relax and just play catch. It's not as big of a deal as you make it.

We can all look at our own lives with this phrase. How much pressure are we putting on ourselves to perform? Is this really beneficial? What if we stopped seeing it as "I have to be the best" or "Everyone's watching, I must perform" and just lived it naturally? Just play catch. Have fun. Whether you're playing a sport or running a major work project -- see it as a game. More so, see it as a game that no one really cares about (which many times, they don't). Just play catch as if you were in the backyard with your buddies. Just run your project like it was only your business partners in the room and there's nobody to impress. This natural, relaxed manner will take us to greater heights rather than placing unnecessary pressure on ourselves.

I've seen it in my life and I've seen it in others -- just yesterday my nephew started to just play catch and closed the game for the win. In front of his family. In front of his competitive baseball friends and coaches. All he had to was just play catch.