Baseball is simple.

Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Catch the ball.

That’s it. You figure out how to do these three things well and you’ll start stacking up wins.

Focus on winning games instead of throwing, hitting and catching, however, and you’ll begin to lose. With an eye on the scoreboard, you’ll start pitching duds, collecting errors, and will fall fast and furious in the ranks like the first dive of a 5-star roller coaster.

Managers freak at this kind of stuff. Veins pop and words fly. The club is in trouble. If the club has a good manager, however, he’ll schedule an extra practice or twelve and get back to the basics.

Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Catch the ball.

A few weeks of re-learning the game and the team is likely to be back on track.

There you have it. The reason for my 4-week bloggatical in baseball terms. Over the past year my focus has slipped from the love of the game to the need for a win. Writing. Connecting. Promoting. Networking. Leveraging. Wooing. I didn’t want to miss opportunities, so I stayed up late working. Anxious to please I skipped critical moments to meet self-imposed deadlines. I didn’t want to disappoint so I worked harder, longer with an eye on the scoreboard.

Desperate for success, I was playing the wrong game. And I stopped loving the playing of it. Late Spring I took a hard look at my record and discovered I was losing at home, collecting errors, and sliding in the ranks. Veins were popping and words flying.

Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Catch the ball.

I heard the voice of a Good Manager reminding me to get back to the basics and start playing for love of the game.

In life terms: Love God. Love people. And LIVE.

How’s your game?