Swinging for the fences

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to have a baseball thrown in your direction at 90 mph

Would your eyes be quick enough to see it coming

Would your reaction time be fast enough to swing your arms holding the bat to get a piece of it

Would you be patient enough in the batter’s box to take your pitch

Would you be able to swing fast enough to connect

It all seems so easy

All you have to do is line the ball in your sights

Swing with all your might

Connect with power

Then run the bases

As you celebrate your blast to the bleachers

If only it was that simple

Realistically it’s very intense and quite unnerving

To get up to face a pitch thrown at 90 mph is no easy feat

It takes courage to get up to the plate to face a major league caliber pitcher

It takes years of practice to hit

a fastball,

a curveball,

a slider,

It takes confidence and a little bit of luck

They say baseball is a kids game

That’s true until you’re met with a 90 mph fastball

It’s very hard to get all of a fastball and launch it out of the park

It’s every boy’s dream to get up in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded down by 3 runs and connect for the grand slam

That’s Hollywood fairytale

That’s Robert Redford swinging and launching it into the lights out of the ballpark as sparks rain down onto the field

That’s Babe Ruth hitting the mighty shot

That’s Bobby Thompson hitting the historic homerun against Brooklyn to win the pennant

That’s Henry Aaron hitting homerun 715 breaking the Sultan of Swat’s career homerun record

It’s glorious to hit a home run

It’s exhilarating

It’s science in motion

That’s why we spend good money to see a baseball game

We want to celebrate our heroes

We want to celebrate our team

We want to see a home run

There is one player of our generation that not only can connect with a 90 mph fastball for a homerun

He can also serve up a 90 mph fastball striking out his competition

He’s the modern day Babe Ruth

His talent is unmatched

Everyone looks up to Shohei Ohtani

He’s top billing and everyone wants to see him at the plate and on the mound

He is truly special

I am truly amazed

My dream is to have everything in slow motion

As I face that 90 mph fastball

Connecting with all my might while

Swinging for the fences

Rising stars

Some people only see the shine.

They don’t see the storms.

They don’t see the nights

we fought to make it to morning.

They don’t see the quiet battles.

The private breakdowns.

The moments we almost gave up.

But we didn’t.

Because we all carry something.

Something heavy.

Something unspoken.

Doubts that whisper.

Fears that follow.

Insecurities that sit in the background

and try to decide our future for us.

And sometimes

we believe them.

We tell ourselves we can’t.

We tell ourselves we’re too late.

Too damaged.

Too different.

Too tired.

But then life does what life always does

It challenges us.

It pushes us.

It tests our heart.

It tests our mind.

It asks us if we’re going to fold

or fight.

And even when we fall—

we learn how to get back up.

We learn how to stay in the game.

We learn how to keep going

even when we don’t feel strong.

And that’s the truth:

Strength isn’t loud.

Sometimes strength is quiet.

Sometimes it’s just waking up.

Breathing.

Trying again.

And one day it changes.

Because you’ll tell your story.

Live your best life.

Do everything you always envisioned—

even if you couldn’t have imagined it.

Not because you’re not deserving…

but because of your own personal doubts.

Your fears.

Your insecurities.

But when you take a step back

and understand your shortcomings

and appreciate your ability to stay in the game

then you will come to realize

that you are the

Rising stars

Depression

This lonely sad feeling is like a blanket that covers me and it’s hard to take it off.

It smothers me

It blinds me

It weakens me

It takes all the good away from me

It makes me feel like a heavy burden to all around me

It makes me feel like an outsider

It makes me want to give up

I just want to escape the pain I feel

I am afraid

I am scared

I am frightened

I am fearful

Depression rips at my soul

My very existence

I am unable to smile

I am unable to cope

I am unable to ask for help

Sometimes I just feel it’s my time to go

I lose all hope

I don’t know how to interact with others

I just want to be left alone

No medicine can help me

No elixir can help me

No tonic can help me

I’m just trying to survive

Yet I wish to leave the world

I don’t see the good the world has to offer

Only the pain

Only the sorrow

Only the suffering

Only the sadness

Only the wars

Only the violence

Only the hatred

My mind is completely destroyed

I’m broken

I’m lost

I’m heartbroken

I’m sad

I’m sorry

I wish I could find the joy

The happiness

The love

But all I feel is emptiness

Sadness and a very deep

Depression