The Pool Lesson

A few years ago, a friend of mine and I wrote a children’s book called Softball from A to Zoo. In it we had animals enjoying the sport. The drawings were marvellous, too.

One of my favourite pages was of an elephant holding the bat in his trunk. The elephant was asked why he wasn’t holding the bat in his hands. His reply was, “I can’t. My fingers aren’t long enough.”

I remember chuckling at this drawing and thinking of the Softball Canada clinicians who instructed how to line up your knuckles when gripping a bat and how it was essential to do so.

You know what? For every rule, there are exceptions.

It reminds me of a story John Smyth told me. He was giving a lesson to a gentleman in the art of playing pool. His student was pretty good, but John pointed out that he would be much better if he bent his knees slightly. The man replied, “I can’t.” John said relaxing a bit would help him bend his knees. Again, the man replied, “I can’t.” John countered, “Of course you can.” The man was insistent that he couldn’t. John took it upon himself to help the man by taking his own hands and helping him bend his knees. As John touched the man’s legs to bend the knees, it all became apparent. The man had artificial legs and it was impossible to bend his knees.

Yes, there are those who do not reach their potential because they don’t apply the principles to succeed. However, there are those who do in spite of what we think. For some reason, we apply our standard of success to their life. We say things like, “If he would only do this or that he would be so much better.” Who are we to judge the standard others should reach? Personally, I have enough of a time reaching my own goals.