Attitude

My dad used to preach something he called PMA - Positive Mental Attitude. I was like most kids when their parents talk, letting important ideas and advice go in one ear and right out the other. I was never a big subscriber to his views on PMA until I became a dad myself. Now I preach it to my kids like I were the Gordon B. Hinckley of our family.

I've been throwing a lot of batting practice the last little while. Getting ready for an All-Star game is not the easiest thing, but it's something we've taken upon ourselves to do. Might as well do it with the best possible attitude and with all the gumption you can. Preparedness is a wonderful thing.

Jacob really likes to swing the bat. He swings at good pitches. He swings at bad pitches. He swings at them when they're high and he swings at them when they're low. Inside, outside, up, down. Doesn't matter. He wants to get on base and he wants to do it now.

Last night his All-Star team had a scrimmage against the other All-Star team in town. Jacob came up his first time and promptly grounded out to the pitcher. Not a very auspicious beginning. He was mad about it, too. He wouldn't even talk to me when he came in the dug out. He's got it in his head that he's no good and so everyone needs to suffer.

His second time up he was more patient and hit a good pitch on a line drive out into center field. He advanced his way around the bases and scored one of the five runs our team scored. I thought that at-bat would teach him a lesson. Um, not quite.

Before his third time up I repeated my standard mantra to him as he sauntered to the plate. "Be patient," I said. "Only swing at the good ones." First pitch, in the dirt, but he swung. Strike one. Second pitch, again in the dirt, but he swung again. Strike two.

Now, sometimes I might blurt out, "That's not being patient," but this time I didn't. I said, "You can do this, Jacob. Believe in yourself. Have a good attitude." I also heard the third base coach saying just about the same exact thing. "Believe you can do this."

The next pitch he hit really hard, but right at the shortstop. One thing Jacob does is hustle and he beat the throw to first and went to second on a throwing error. He died there, but his whole attitude had changed.

Later, after the game, I again threw about 150 pitches and he was rocketing them out to the fence, attitude shooting skyward, too. Isn't it a wonderful thing when kids learn for themselves?

There is little difference in people,
but that little difference makes a big difference.
The little difference is attitude.
The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.
~W. Clement Stone