I found the following story on the ETSU website and it really got my attention. Sometimes we put too much emphasis on the wrong things and allow our priorities to get out of line. Baseball is a hard game and is often cruel - hard hit balls are caught while flairs drop in - good pitches are often hit hard - and sometimes that round ball bounces and curves in ways that don't seem logical. Sometimes we judge our players (and sons) based on their current batting average or what he did in the last game. Sometimes we judge our team (and sons) based on their current record. Sometimes our moods or attitudes are influenced too much by wins and losses, batting averages, or ERA. May we all, as players, parents, coaches, and fans, resolve to base success less on results and more on the amount of honest effort and hard work that is put in to reach our goals. If we will all learn to "Push the Rock" we can be successful in all that we do and can be proud of the effort we have given.
Push the Rock
Once there was a young man who had a deep desire to please God and perform diligently his life mission, no matter what it might be. So he asked God what he should do to give his life meaning. God showed him a huge rock in a field and said, "Push the Rock".
The young man began to push the rock, as God had told him. He got up early in the orning and pushed the rock. He stayed up late into the night and pushed the rock. Every day he continued to push the rock, no matter how exhausted he became.
If the weather was dreary, he pushed the rock. Through storms, snows, the dark of night and all his life's events, he continued to push the rock. He made many sacrifices so that he could push the rock. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the man continued to push the rock.
After many years, the evil one came to the man and whispered in his ear, "What good have you done all these years? You have spent your life pushing this rock, and for what? The rock has not moved one tiny bit."
The man thought about all his effort, and realized that it was true. No matter how long and how hard he had pushed the rock, the rock still had not budged from the place it was when he started. All those years of effort had not resulted in the rock being displaced even the smallest bit.
Immediately the man was discouraged. He began to sorrow and feel sorry for himself, and then he got angry. He felt his life had been wasted pushing the rock. All of his hard work and sacrifice had been for nothing. He had made no difference at all. The rock had not moved. He had failed to carry out his mission. he had accomplished nothing.
He desperately cried out to God, "All these years I have been pushing this rock, and it has not moved one bit. Why did you ask me to do this when I have made no difference at all?"
God looked at the man with compassion and said, "I did not tell you to move the rock, I told you to push the rock."
"Look at yourself. Your legs, which once were skinny and weak, are now strong and able to go long distances. Your arms, which had been thin, are now powerful and able to carry heavy loads. Your shoulders, once narrow, have become broad and able to bear large burdens. Your mind, once so immature and easily distracted, is focused and able to solve difficult problems. Your heart has been seasoned by patience and softened by hardship."
"Your mission", God said, "is not in what you do, but in what you become as you do it."
Have faith and PUSH THE ROCK!
CAVALIER BASEBALL - GET WITH THE PROGRAM!
