One Pitch Away

“You’re one pitch away!” the coach exhorts from the dugout.

Okay, so you’ve walked three batters. Bases are loaded. (You do have one out though.) You’re struggling with your control on this next batter.

Stop.

Walk around the mound.

Deep breath.

Gather your composure.

Reset.

And remind yourself that as bad as this inning started, you’re one pitch away from ending it. (You can get the batter to ground into a double play ball.)

Nothing that came before matters.

All that matters is what you do on this next pitch.

Believe in yourself.

You can do it.

“You’re one pitch away!”

Go do it.

(Of course, this baseball metaphor applies to all of life.)