Monday Moment for Health - Make peace with your batting average

Last week Ben Sherwood, author of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, came to my community as part of “Canandaigua Reads,” which has been modeled after similar programs often titled “What if everyone in (Chicago, Seattle, Rochester…) read the same book?”

Our school district has taken on this program in a big way, choosing a book that is appropriate for all our high school – and many of the middle school students, so that the whole school is buzzing about the same book. The acting classes put on a dramatization of scenes from the book for the community, discussion groups are held, and when we can get him or her here, the author comes to speak with students and community groups.

Ben Sherwood had a busy day last Thursday. He spoke to an assembly of all high school students, a classroom of kids who wanted to talk more deeply about the book, and students in our alternative high school – at least one of which had never taken another book home before. And then he spoke to two groups at the library, did a book-signing at our local – and quite phenomenal – grocery/pharmacy/all-purpose store, and spoke to another community group in the evening.

I was fortunate to attend three of these multiple sessions, but the one that I got most from was the Author’s Round Table in which Ben spoke with local authors about writing. He shared many useful tips, but the one that has stuck with me goes something like, “Make peace with your batting average.”

I’m not a die-hard baseball fan so please accept my advance apologies for the likelihood of mixed metaphors. But the idea goes like this. None of us – not even the greatest literary minds – bat a thousand. And most writers probably have a batting average between 200-400. Every page, every paragraph, every sentence won’t be a home run – even for the incredibly gifted.

Sherwood calls himself a 270 writer. If he edits carefully, he might raise his average ten points. With an excellent coach, he might gain another ten points. He wants to work diligently to get better at the writing craft, hoping for and aspiring to great works. But – and here’s the most important part of the message - he doesn’t let the fear of not batting a thousand – or even 500 – keep him from sitting down at the typewriter and banging out something! He recognizes that even a writer with a 270 batting average can have something important to say – and create a book that a high school student might take home for the very first time in his life.

As one who aspires to write, I immediately got what Ben Sherwood was trying to say. In fact I created a sign years ago that still hangs in my office. It says, “Write one BAD page every day!” If I try to write something brilliant every time I sit down to write, well believe me, I’ll find every procrastination excuse known to humankind before I put a single word to the page. But if I don’t worry about whether it’s good or not – and just write – I’m often surprised at what comes out.

It’s occurred to me to wonder in recent days if making peace with my batting average might be a good idea in other arenas of my life as well. I’ll never have the cleanest house, the nicest clothes, the most carefully managed weight, or any other of the hosts of pipedreams my less mature self might have hoped for. Nor do I need those pipedreams to live a satisfying – and still growth-oriented life.

As my friend and mentor Sid Simon taught me, “Perfection is not required. Excellence will do just fine.”

May you have a week of excellent attempts!

Sally