LESSONS FROM "BEHIND THE DISH"
Originally published December 2020
Coach Raul Says...
Happy Holidays Everyone! Although baseball season ended last month, as a lifelong baseball nut, there's never an offseason for me! Enjoy the read below in my Clarity Connection Coaching Blog as I share my thoughts on the wisdom that has come from an unlikely source...from the perspective of THIS catcher, of course.
Wishing everyone the Happiest of Holiday Seasons and a Prosperous New Year!
In the game of baseball, the catcher is known to be the Field General…the “Quarterback” of the defense; the player on the field who is in on every pitch, manages the game on the field for the coach, and keeps the pitchers calm in pressure-packed situations. The catcher is a leader and the player that the team leans on for wisdom when the game is on the line.
**Full disclosure: I was a catcher in my playing days and loved every minute I spent “behind the dish” so my opinion might be a little biased on this one.**
One of the greatest
One of the most storied catchers of all time was Lawrence Peter Berra, more affectionately known by fellow players and fans around the world as New York Yankee superstar “Yogi” Berra. For my non-baseball fan readers, Yogi Berra is actually a real person not to be confused with a cartoon, picnic basket-stealing bear whose best pal was named “Boo Boo”.
As a Hall of Famer who played 19 seasons from 1946-1965, Yogi was without a doubt an accomplished field general as an 18-time All Star and member of 10 World Series Championship Yankee Teams. A St. Louis native, Yogi was also a WW II veteran who earned a Purple Heart as a US Navy Gunner’s Mate during the D-Day landings at Normandy in 1944, two full years before he debuted as 21-year old Yankees rookie in 1946.
say what, yogi?
Despite this unvarnished success, Yogi became known for something quite different in the years after he retired from playing, moving on to be a successful major league manager. In this new role, Yogi’s public quips of “wisdom”, colored by his years behind the plate, became more public; today a whole generation of fans and pop culture followers know Yogi more for his “Yogi-isms” than his Hall of Fame baseball credentials.
Some of Yogi’s best head-scratching statements include:
“90 percent of baseball is mental; the other half is physical”
“It’s déjà vu all over again…”
“Always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t go to yours.”
These quotes and the dozens more like them, make us smile or even “laugh out loud” in sentimental ways for the memory of a beloved baseball icon and for their seemingly illogical nuggets of “wisdom”.
wait, maybe he's on to something...
But one of my most favorite Yogi-isms is actually filled with some unintentional wisdom that's likely relevant to each of us in our everyday lives. This particular Yogi-ism was uttered as Yogi was giving a friend directions to his New Jersey home.
“When you get to the fork in the road, take it.”
As silly as that sounds, there’s actually a nugget of wisdom in there! How often have you found yourself at some proverbial or metaphoric “fork in the road” in your life? How have you responded to the choices you have when sometimes there may even be three or more “tines” in the fork that lies before you? When have you found yourself paralyzed, unable to take action when you stand at a particular junction of your life journey?
The unintentional wisdom from Yogi is a call to action…take it! Take one! Make a decision and get moving!
Quite often, our decision-making process is stalled by a lack of connection to the thoughts, ideas, or people who can inform our decision and get us moving on the right path. This could be challenges with work, or family relationships, or life transitions…in any case, intentionally creating connections, and more specifically “Clarity Connections”, can get you off the starting block and moving down the path towards your desired destinations in life.
go make a connection...yogi would
At Clarity Connection Coaching, I specialize in helping my clients identify those things that are stalling their decision-making and holding them up at the “forks” in their roads. If you’re interested in learning more about how coaching can enrich your journey and help you gain Clarity Connections, go to www.clarityconnectioncoaching.com or “like” my Facebook page @ClarityConnectionCoaching. While you’re there, sign up to receive my free E-Guide, “The 3 Keys to Gaining Clarity Connection in Your Work, Family, and Play”.
And Now…Go Make A Connection! Coach Raul
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