#PositiveVibes - Game On

By John R. Nocero

The VIBE: Talking about friends.

Back when Katherine and I were writing The KJRs, which was the precursor to PositiveVibes, I remember we covered a piece on friends and friendship. At that time, I remember telling her, I would kill to have someone walk up to my door, knock and say, hey, want to come outside for some wiffleball? Those were some of the happiest moments of my life, I would run and grab my plastic batting helmet (it takes the game to another level) and quickly pencil myself in to the #3 spot in the order. Well probably not, I would only bat there if I was picked there. Many times I wasn’t. In fact, I often was picked after the ghostman. But, those playground days were amazing and I look back on them with extreme fondness. They are the reason why I love baseball so much – not only does it connect me to my dad, but it also connects me back to my sandlot buddies.

 I was thinking about this over the weekend. I have a tremendous amount of professional colleagues and I always thought that was enough. But when you find yourself in a new city not knowing many people, you wish you had some.friends. I imagine they will come in time, provided I make the time for them and prioritize those relationships. I remember telling her that a couple years ago. Looking back on it, I ended up with one very significant good friend – he lives in Oklahoma and we make time to talk at least once a week on the phone. Not text, but real conversation. My second good friend I have rolled with since I was a young lad in the world; he used to play in those local wiffleball games, and I think he still has the home run record. We talk and text. I sent him a text the other day of a picture of a lawn chair. I told him, where others see just a lawn chair, we see a wiffleball strike zone. He laughed and we were able to chat again. I am very grateful for him.

Others come and go but I am extremely grateful for the close ones. You change and they change and it is normal. It is all about prioritizing those you love and making time. The majority of time I want to spend with my wife, or my son or just by myself, but I do prioritize them too. Do that and you will be okay.

 Game on.

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