Excerpt from Ordinary Hero–The Art of Hitting a Curveball
The following excerpt is from my upcoming book, Ordinary Hero: The Power of Building Character One Step at a Time.
I originally wrote this piece in October 2022, not knowing –a year later–my Philadelphia Phillies would againbe playing in the National League Championship Series with a chance to play again in the World Series.
When it comes to sports, Philadelphia fans are notoriously pessimistic and forever rigid in our impending-doom thinking. The glass of wooder is always half-empty in Philadelphia.
However, the sentiments I shared last year (thankfully), are still valuable and poignant this year. The excerpt is about learning to hit literal and metaphorical curveballs.
The adjustments we make when faced with difficult tasks are vital to positive productivity. If we can’t adjust we will strikeout. Learning to adjust takes practice and patience and ownership. Though a curveball may force us to change our stance, our willingness to make adjustments determines our ultimate success.
Go Phils!
~~
I began writing this chapter a few minutes before midnight.
I had just spent the last few hours of my life shifting my weight on the couch, cooling my nerves with sips of iced tea, watching my beloved Philadelphia Phillies defeat the San Diego Padres 2-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The winner of this best-of-seven series advances to the World Series. My team was one win closer to the World Series, so I was writing from a positive disposition.
I don’t know if you’re a baseball fan. In fact, I don’t know if you’re a sports fan at all. But there is a baseball phrase I was reminded of while watching the game that extends well beyond the field of play.
During the Phillies game, the TV announcers explained the art of hitting a curveball (or any pitched baseball for that matter). They gushed that a successful at-bat begins with pitch recognition. That in order for a batter to successfully hit a pitched baseball, he must recognize the story of the pitch as it speeds toward him. It’s imperative, in the split second a batter has when a pitch is thrown, to make the proper adjustments with his body and in his mind in order to successfully hit the quickly approaching baseball.
As Cindy and the kids and the dog and all of suburbia snored, I sat on the couch and thought about curveballs.
I also thought about a friend who was thrown some unexpected curveballs in life. He was doing his best to hit them, but he confided in me, “It’s really, really fucking (his word, not mine) hard.” And lately it seemed to him like the harder he swung, the harder he missed.
Learning how to hit a literal curveball is important for the development of a baseball player, and learning how to hit an idiomatic “curveball” is important for the development of, well, everyone.
Because we all face the unexpected.
Because life, as my friend said, is “really, really fucking hard.”
I’m a 42-year-old writer, husband, father, and dog walker, and I’m learning to make the proper adjustments to life’s curveball – one that wickedly spins with an incurable brain disease. Sometimes I whiff. And sometimes I’m so frozen with fear and uncertainty and sadness that I don’t even swing. Sometimes I strike out.
But in life (and in baseball), our ability to hit curveballs depends on the adjustments we make.
We can’t change the trajectory of the ball rushing toward us. But we can take a deep breath. We can be patient. We can allow acceptance. We can evaluate our decisions. We can control our actions.
We can make the proper adjustments to our body and mind that would make baseball announcers gush. And this process of learning to hit a curveball undeniably builds character.
Be well,
Jay
6 Reasons why you should preorder Ordinary Hero for only $.99:
1.When was the last time $.99 changed your life?
2.Charles Swchab would probably agree that in today’s market, Ordinary Hero is a sound investment.
3.If you enjoy my first book, Bedtime Stories for the Living, you’ll love this book.
4. The book will make you laugh, cry, appreciate life, offer comfort, and help you overcome challenges.
5. The book includes stories about my dog Maggie May. I recently read a New York Times article that explains why books about dogs are wildly popular. People love to read about dogs and their joy, comfort, and curiosity.
6. You should pre-order Ordinary Hero for just $.99 now and on 11/1 you should probably buy a few paperbacks, and when the books arrive, go to the local dog park and hand them out to dog owners and tell them there are stories in there about dogs. If you do that, you’ll be the coolest cat at the dog park.
Before you go, one more thing…
To celebrate my 10 year diagnosis-versary (September 4), International Ataxia Awareness Day (September 25), the release of my new book Ordinary Hero (November 1), and The National Ataxia Foundation’s upcoming “Hike for Mike” event, I’m participating in an exclusive NAF fundraising campaign.
My goal is to increase Ataxia awareness and raise $5,000 to accelerate finding a cure for Ataxia.
Click here to learn more and make a donation. As a bonus, if you make a donation you will receive two chapters from my upcoming book, Ordinary Hero: The Power of Building Character One Step at a Time.
Greetings to everyone who found me on the University of Pennsylvania’s Ataxia Clinic’s website! Thanks for stopping by. I have ataxia and though I’m not a doctor, I hope my words comfort, encourage, empower, and serve as good company on your journey.
Pre-Order Now: Arriving Gracefully on 11/1/23!
October Book Promos for You:
Are looking for inspiration? Are you searching for a better version of yourself?
This month I joined literary forces with some best-selling authors in two awesome book promotions. Click the link below:
Buy Here!
Recent letters you may enjoy:
Celebrating My Worst Day; Year 10
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Jay Armstrong is a speaker and an award-winning author. Despite being diagnosed with a rare neurological disease, that impairs his movement, balance, eyesight, and speech–Jay presses on. The leader of the Philadelphia Ataxia Support Group, he hopes to help you find joy, peace, and meaning in life.
For Jay, a good day consists of 5 things:
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Exercising
4. Hearing his three children laugh
5. Hugging his wife
(Bonus points for a dinner with his parents or a drink with his friends)
Jay hasn’t had a bad day in quite a long time.
You can also visit Jay at jayarmstrongwrites.com
