Greetings:

When you are sitting in the batter’s box of life and you are watching the universe closely.  And you are listening to the sound of the crowd. And you are hearing the words of your hecklers. And you are focusing on what life is getting ready to throw at you……   There comes a moment where you are just thinking about knocking whatever is coming at you — out of the park.

But swinging hard and swinging fast at what’s coming at you is not as important as recognizing what is coming at you.

See, in the sport of baseball the pitch of a pitcher comes so fast that it is almost impossible for the batter to “see” the ball in total.  So, “keeping your eye on the ball” is not the best advice here.

What the batter sees are all of the things that go with the pitch.  The stance, the setup, the windup, and the release. The batter also understands and studies his opponent and the context of which the pitch is being issued.  The batter is aware of the count, he’s aware of the score, and he’s aware of his weaknesses and strengths as well of those of the pitcher.

The batter has trained, practiced and honed his skills for this moment.  And he has visualized himself being successful.

===============
Pay Attention To The
Little Things
===============

So….. When you are sitting in the batter’s box of life and you are watching the universe closely.  And you are listening to the sound of the crowd. And you are hearing the words of your hecklers. And you are focusing on what life is getting ready to throw at you…… Take your time to pay attention to the keys:

  1. See the stance in which you are, within your situation. Have you done the correct things morally and ethically so that the current state and stance of your situation is lined up with your desired outcome?
  2. Watch the setup of what’s coming.  We are ALWAYS being setup. Sometimes we are being setup for failure and others, we are being setup for success.  Your preparation and ability to “see” what’s coming aids you in taking what life is throwing at you and making it into what you need it to be
  3. Watch the WINDUP!!!! The windup allows you to know the strength at which a thing is coming. Changes and adjusts your level of attack.  During hurricane season in Florida, we pay close attention to the categorical levels of hurricanes.  Why? Because each level of categorization influences and in some cases, dictates, what we have to do.  So watch the windup in life. Watch the windup because it has great influence on how you WIND UP.
  4. Pay close attention to the release. In life, some things are thrown your way, some are thrown at you, some are handed to you and some are gifted to you.  When a thing is released to you, make sure that you know the direction of the thing and make sure you understand if it is for you or not. Because YOU DON’T NEED TO SWING AT EVERY PITCH THROWN AT YOU.

Currently, I am reading the book, “Never Split The Difference” by Chris Voss. The book was recommended to me by one of my fraternity brothers while we were swapping our reading lists.   (sidebar: if you don’t have friends who discuss their reading list with you then you need to get some new friends because, in time, their advice will become antiquated, their knowledge stagnant, and their approaches to situations… no longer relevant.  You will strike out because of a weak informational dugout.) And there are some things that I have picked up from the book that helped me greatly. That one thing is…. NEVER COMPROMISE (when it comes to those things which you are really passionate about.)

=============
Relationship And
Marriage Tips
=============

Case in point, if you want wear a pair of black shoes and your wife wants you to wear the brown shoes, then what you should do is… wear the damn brown shoes if you want some sex later!  LOL!!!   (wait, that’s not in the book but it’s damn good marriage advice!! LOL)

As I was saying…. If you want to wear a pair of black shoes and your friend wants you to wear a pair of brown shows, the compromise would be one black shoe and one brown shoe.  Well, walking out of the house like that is crazy… if and only if, you value your appearance, presentation and branding.  And if  you do, then you see that there are some things that cannot be compromised.

And you should not feel bad about not compromising.  What I did find out about marriage from the book is that marriage is NOT about compromise. Nor is it about communication.

Marriage is about LISTENING and NOT COMPROMISING.  In life, in marriage, and in all relationships, you LISTEN and you cut deals which are beneficial for your desired end goal and purpose.  In marriage, if both person’s focus is on the integrity of the marriage, then things are good. Things get cloudy when one’s personal agenda gets pushed before that of the collective.  As with all relationships.

The takeaways from today’s Marvelous Monday issuance are:

  1. Do Not Compromise
  2. If married, do what your wife says or…. the hours of 9pm to 9am are going to be rough LOL!!!!
  3. Be prepared, you are ALWAYS in the batter’s box of life
  4. Pay attention to the keys when in the batter’s box

==============
Closing
==============

Thank you so much for reading my first post of the #MarvelousMonday series and I hope you found it encouraging and I also encourage you to pick up my book which is available on Amazon, “Coffee With Rhadi.” 

And of course it is available on Kindle and Audible and in paperback as well. 🙂

Blessings from here to there,

Dr. Rhadi Ferguson

P.S. If you have not taken the time to donate to the Red Cross or the donation outlet of your choice, please do so. This hurricane season has damaged many areas from the southern part of the United States to the Caribbean and Mexico. I just ask that you make a small donation today.