What are you afraid of?
Playing catch with Sadie
It’s the second day of school, and the twins are full of energy. Vanessa went to see Oliver’s scrimmage, and I stayed home with the monkeys. It was a gorgeous night. Ellie asked me to play soccer, and Sadie asked me to play catch.
Sadie and I played catch for the first time on Saturday. She did well but ended with a ball to the noggen and some tears. I was happy she decided to give it another try.
We started throwing, and I could see improvement off the bat. She looked more confident, and her eyes were focused on the ball. She was catching more often and showing less fear. Then she backed up. I switched from throwing underhand to overhand, and her fear returned.
She was still catching it well, but now she was flinching. I asked, “What are you afraid of?” She said that now we were further apart, and I was throwing overhand; it was more difficult, and the ball would hurt more if it hit her again.
I told her she had nothing to be afraid of. I had watched her for the past 10 minutes catch ball after ball. I said, “I see your eyes focused; when you’re focused, you catch it. But when you let the fear in, it distracts you, and you lose your focus. Don’t let the fear in. YOU GOT THIS. I believe in you. God believes in you.”
She pounded her fist into the mitt, “Ok, Dad, we got this.”
She never looked back. We threw the ball until my arm got sore, and then it was time for dinner.
Sometimes, fear distracts us. We lose focus, and mistakes happen. Sometimes, we need someone else to tell us what we are doing right to build our confidence, especially when doing something new. We look to the people we trust the most in these moments—the ones who pay the closest attention to us.