Silly Old Bear

3. KEEP SWINGING

If you know anything about baseball, you will probably recognize at least one of the following nicknames:

• “The Great Bambino”
• “The Sultan of Swat”
• “The Colossus of Clout”

Babe Ruth was arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played for the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in the early 1900′s. That was a long time ago! Lots of baseball players have come and gone since Babe Ruth, and yet he is still considered one of the best of the best.

In his career, Babe Ruth hit a total of 714 home runs. The last of those home runs was hit on May 25, 1935. It would take 39 years for another baseball player, Hank Aaron, to break that record. Not many other athletes, in any sport, have set a record that stood untouched for 39 years.

But there is another number that stands out in Babe Ruth’s career statistics. During his career, The Great Bambino struck out over 1,300 times! He struck out almost twice as many times as he hit a home run. You would think that all those strike-outs would get to be depressing after awhile. In fact, a reporter once asked the Home Run King how he managed to keep going when he got into a batting slump. Ruth’s answer: “I just keep goin’ up there and swingin’ at ‘em.”

Life is going to be filled with disappointments. People are going to let you down. Things aren’t always going to go the way you want them to. Life isn’t always going to turn out the way you planned. So, how do you keep going when life stinks? You just keep goin’ up there and swingin’ at ‘em! You just don’t ever give up! Babe Ruth himself said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

When life knocks you down … you just pick yourself back up, brush yourself off, stare your obstacles in the face, and proclaim, “You will not defeat me!”

When life knocks you down again, and kicks you in the side, and laughingly spits in your face and says “Take that!” … you just pick yourself up again, brush yourself off again, stare your obstacles in the face again, and proclaim even louder, “YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!”

The winner is the person who gets up one more time than he got knocked down. The loser is the person who gives up that last time he gets knocked down, and doesn’t get back up. The difference between the winner and the loser: getting back up one more time!

Edwin Louis Cole said, “Champions aren’t men who never fail…” Babe Ruth failed almost twice as many times as he succeeded. “Champions aren’t men who never fail. Champions are men who never quit.”

How can you become a Champion? How can you be a Winner? Just get back up one more time. Just never quit. Just keep goin’ back up there and swingin’ at ‘em.

• Be nice.
• Play fair.
• Keep swinging.

The preceding post was adapted from a speech I gave for Waxahachie Junior High School’s National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Tuesday, May 8, 2007. It was inspiring to see so many junior high teens who met the qualifications for membership in this prestigious organization.

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