04/28/25
Have you seen the movie “Moneyball”?
It’s a great movie written by Aaron Sorkin (one of my favorite writers and directors), and starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.
There’s a memorable scene where Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, tells Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) a story about a 240 lb catcher by the name of Jeremy Brown.
Jeremy was a slow runner, so if he got a hit, he was scared to run to second base because he was afraid of being thrown out.
Peter shows Billy a clip of Jeremy up at bat and hitting a fastball into center field.
The camera shows Jeremy taking a huge risk, going around first and heading for second. He then trips and falls, his nightmare comes to life, and he’s crawling back to first base to avoid getting thrown out.
The players on the other team are laughing, and Jeremy thinks it’s because he fell. A few seconds later, Jeremy realizes why they were actually laughing.
It’s because the ball sailed 60 feet over the fence.
He hit a home run and didn’t even realize it.
How often does that happen in our lives?
How often are we focusing on what could go wrong…
The mistakes we’ve made…
How to avoid failure…
And completely missing the fact that we’re “hitting home runs”?
It’s natural to focus on what could go wrong.
It’s human to prepare for the worst.
It’s normal to have fear, worry, or anxiety.
My invitation to you is…
To not be so binary in how you focus your attention.
You can be cautious and prepared…
AND still trot around the bases in celebration when you hit a home run.
You can focus on avoiding mistakes…
AND high-five the people in your life who acknowledge your progress.
You can commit to constant and never-ending improvement…
AND wave your hat to the crowd after hitting the ball over the fence.
Rooting for you,
Jay (encouraging you to celebrate your “home runs”)
