Thought of the Day 06.25.08

One of the most frustrating thing about writing these thoughts every day is the pressure to once again come up with something brilliant to say. And of course my standard for them isn’t merely that they are worth reading or even very good. My scale is calibrated against the best ones I do. Knowing that I’m sometimes capable of a ten causes me to be frustrated when I only score a 5 or 6, even though I rationally know that’s still well above the surrounding culture’s average of 1 or 2.

But there’s a baseball expression that helps me manage my perfectionism. “Good hitters take what the other team gives them.” Pitch selection and defensive alignment may make it impossible to hit a home run or even a double, so a good batter observes this and goes for the single to keep the inning alive. He knows that reaching base is always better than making an out.

So I’ve learned to be content taking the base hits I can get while always anticipating the thrill of the occasional walk-off home run. Good advice for any perfectionist, I think.