Posted 9 years ago
For about the first 20 years of my life, all I ever wanted to do was play baseball.
I can VIVIDLY remember the day when I was about 5-6 years old saying to myself that I wanted to be a professional baseball player because 1) It seemed like the hardest sport to get good at and I wanted to prove it to myself that I could excel, 2) I LIVED for playing the game, it was so much fun for me!
During my college days, I was blessed and fortunate enough to have been a 4-year starter, all-conference player and leader of my team. During my senior year, I experienced something that totally shook my world but ended up leading to my greatest life lesson. My last year playing college ball I had a terrible season and felt like I was in a slump the whole time. I can remember saying to myself “all of my dreams of becoming a pro are going straight down the drain”…. especially since I had some pro scouts coming to watch me from a couple different major league teams and my team and my coaches were counting on me to be “the man”!! It was an awful feeling to say the least. My team ended up having the best year we had since I started, but I still felt like I had failed because of my very poor individual performance…”we could’ve done SOOO much better as a team had I not under-performed so drastically” is what I told myself…
Fast forward to the end of my senior season, I had no offers to play, didn’t get drafted, and it came down to decision time…hang ’em up or keep trying? I decided that God had not led me this far for nothing and that my passion to play the game was stronger than any result from one season of my entire amateur career. That didn’t define who I was as a player. I decided to go tryout for a minor league team in Missouri that was having open tryouts. I remember being at that tryout and feeling IMMENSE gratitude for being given the opportunity to even be there, and I just told myself that “I’m going to have so much fun and just enjoy my time here, and if I don’t make the team so be it”…because it wouldn’t be for any lack of preparation or skill! I knew I had done all that I could to prepare in every possible way!
Fast forward AGAIN to the end of the tryout, the Head Coach came up to me and invited me to Spring Training! Not only did I make it through every round of cuts at Spring Training, I ended up being the Opening Day starter for the team…and later I found out that I wasn’t even supposed to be considered for a spot on the team because the roster was alreaqdy full at my position, but because of my performance at the tryout they decided to give me a shot…and that was all I needed to prove my ability and it led me a role as Opening Day starter. I’ve never felt so mch gratitude and joy in my life! I had reached a boyhood dream! I also met some AMAZING people along this journey that I still saty in contact with today. ***The picture is of me at one of my first regular season games a professional!!***
Moral of the story- When you know in every fiber of your being that you were meant to do something and you know without a doubt that you’ve prepared in every way possible, God will do the rest and deliver and the experience will be even better than you could possibly imagine!!! Life will only give you what you’re willing to work for and what you deserve. Put the work in, BE GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORUNITY, and watch the magic happen!
Thanks Jairek and Amanda for all that you do, the book is AMAZING!
-Cam
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