Pass the Ball

My youngest daughter loves to stay active, and usually gets involved with whatever sports she can.  This year she played on the Sanibel School girls basketball team, which was her first real participation in that sport.  She picked it up pretty quickly and learned quite a few great lessons about the game, but one thing, in particular, stood out for me.  Passing the ball in this game is very important, as well as who you give the ball to. If you keep the ball to yourself and try to do it all, in most cases, you will be blocked or stopped in your tracks. 

Of course, this rule applies to many sports, but when your child is participating in something, you pay a bit more attention to it so you can support them along the way.  So, while realizing the importance of this simple rule of passing the ball in this game, I also started to think about the importance of "passing the ball" in other aspects of our lives.  

I know for sure that many of you are like me and want to take on so many things at one time.  It is not always easy to say no or to juggle all the different aspects of life seamlessly. So, instead of trying to take on the world yourself and end up dropping a few balls, why not pass one or two of them to others once in a while so you can feel like a winner more often?

What does it mean to pass the ball?  Let me give you a few examples and suggestions;

• You are spending too much time on things for your business that you know someone else could do.  Add an extra job or two to another team member or sub it out, so you can focus on the essential things that will make a difference.

• You are driving too much because your kids and family rely on you to get them places.  Why not pay someone to help out with the driving? If you calculate the amount of time you spent away from other things and the expenses to get there, you may find out that it can even save you money.

• Your house and yard responsibilities are taking up a significant amount of your daily and weekly time, and you never feel like you get it all done.  There are people that can help either once a month, once a week, or even daily if you need them that are focused on that particular task and are well worth the investment.

• You are a chairperson or committee member for a non-profit organization, and you are feeling overwhelmed with making all the decisions and meeting deadlines.  Take some time to reach out to others that would be a good fit for your organization and ask for help. Sometimes people need an extra nudge to get involved but are willing to jump in if asked a few times. 

Regardless of what ball needs to be passed at any given day, you can bet there is one, and you can either keep it, try to juggle it, risk losing it or ultimately pass it to someone else.  It is not possible to win at this game called life all by yourself, and learning to "pass the ball" is an essential step in moving towards having your most balanced and beautifulife!

My affirmation for you this week is;

"I will take a look at the various aspects of my life to see which balls I can pass on to others to help me stay focused, be productive and accomplish all that I set out to do.”