A League of My Own From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone By Sue Sussman We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes. ~John F. Kennedy When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball mitt for his birthday. Every night, as we went to sleep, I'd listen to him throwing a ball into the mitt over and over to soften the leather. When he was finally sleepy, he'd put the ball in the mitt, wrap a rubber band around it, and put it under his pillow to shape the leather even more. I wanted a mitt so much that I almost cried. But, back then, girls didn't play sports; they played with dolls. Fast-forward twenty-six years. Now a thirty-year-old mother of three, I happened to see a notice in my local paper: "Women's Slow-Pitch Softball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the rec center." I cut it out and set it on the kitchen counter. Could I? After all these years? Was it even possible to think about playing baseball, a game I'd never actually played but had dreamed of playing my entire life? I had been a swimmer in college and, as women became more active in sports, became a competitive racquetball player. But I'd certainly watched enough Chicago Cubs games to know how the game was played. (Keep reading) |
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