A new approach

The last few days have been rough. I did go to the circus which was so much fun. But I was struggling a lot with dance and with relationship problems. Today I worked through both of these in my head and found clarity and optimism from a surprising source--sports analogies. Stay with me here. (You can always leave a comment after you're done reading to let me know I'm crazy.)
Dance first. It's really hard to get back into dance after years of no classes. It's worth it though, or so I kept telling myself every time I didn't want to go back. One problem is that I don't like doing things that I'm not good at. Especially not in front of other people. And especially not when I used to be good at them. The other problem is that I'm not getting that feeling of absolute joy that I long for, because I'm thinking too much and focusing on my mistakes. Then I thought about golf. I'm not very good at that, but after an abyssmal round I'm always happy as long as I hit one great shot. That's the ultimate feeling, and it makes 135 painfully bad shots completely worthwhile. From now on, I will leave class focusing on the moments where everything felt right.
Now relationships. During one of the really disappointing ALCS games (yes the Yankees were already knocked out :-( but I was hoping to see Boston lose), one of the announcers talked about a batter being caught between pitches. That's how things have been lately. Behind the fastball and out in front of the change up. Missed signs, hit batters and strike-outs all over the place. I've come close to throwing in the towel, but I still want to win. So I'll stand in there again, and you can bet I won't strike out looking.