It's 9AM
Winning.
Again.
I was watching an old travel ball clip.
Facebook is nice enough to share the memories.
Reminding me of another sand wall to shore up.
Reminding me of what it takes to end up with a ring at the end of a long hot weekend.
That five minutes on the field, taking photos, smiling and celebrating
Took five hours of practice as a team and five more of individual lessons.
Time in the batting cage.
Time hitting in the net.
Hours of catch in the front yard, just that week.
Plus food and sleep and time outside of focus doing something else.
Shooting hoops.
Going to Dave and Buster’s.
Out to restaurants and don’t forget school, and homework and probably too much Fortnite.
The five minute winner’s circle also took Saturday pool play and a Sunday championship run.
Two hours per game, heat and sweat and frozen Johnny Treat’s.
Some early mornings stretching all the way to starlight.
Winning took time and took up no time at all because
Once the pictures were taken and good byes shared
There was the drive home, and showers and snack plates and sleep.
The actual winning took no time at all even if it literally took all the time to get to it.
It happens outside of baseball.
A best seller tag on a book costs hundreds of hours alone, ass in the seat, fingers tapping keys.
It is a high cost to pay, and it’s the price for winning at anything.
Running?
I’ll probably never win a long race, and since I earned a metal rod in my leg, maybe not even a 5k.
The winning will have to come from the finish of it
The doing of the thing
And crossing that finish line takes hours and hours plus mile after mile of time spent pounding the pavement
Alone.
No one cheering, or chanting or saying how good you played
Just the work of getting there
The work is 90% of it.
Maybe 95%.
The winning? The best part?
5%.
Which will let you in on one of life’s most important secrets.
Winners, real winners, don’t love winning.
They love the grind.
Love all the stuff nobody sees, the time spent in practice, the effort of just getting to where you get the shot-
Winners love that.
Because it lasts a whole lot longer than five minutes.
Lasts longer than accolades and atta’boys.
The grind lasts forever if you’re doing it right.
Nelly asked if you wanna come and take a ride with me and I can’t rap that-
So I’ll just ask if you wanna come and grind with me-
By grabbing:
Do you like exploring new newsletters? Check out these guys and tell me which ones you like.
Did you read Tolkien?
I think Amazon Studios is doing a good job of bringing it to life, AND I’ve seen stirrings of more adventures in Middle Earth being produced.
The second season started off with a bang and there might only be three since it’s so expensive to produce, BUT it’s well worth a watch.
If you love what we’re doing, come along and support what we're doing by becoming a Fan. You can become a Fan on a one time support for $10 or on an annual basis.
dive into the world of THE SHADOWBOXER FILES
ALSO
Cast A Cold Eye (Manny Rivera Mystery Series Book FREE
IF you don’t buy books, you can still help by CLICKING PLAY on this 2 minute video. It’s from It’s 9AM so you might know it.
Hit Like and Subscribe or Leave a comment on it, to help more people see it.
LISTEN TO TEMPORARY MERC – a SCI FI ADVENTURE FREE