comfort zone

 a new perspective. a new attitude. a new mindset. a new start. 


all reasons why i said "yes" when my friend stephanie begged me to join her and another classmate in an inter mural softball team.  


yes, it's true that i haven't been on a ANY soft of athletic team since fifth grade (thankfully, it just so happened to be softball)

and yes, it's true that while on that team ... they stuck me in the outfield where i mostly gazed at the stars and picked at the grass because fifth grade girls don't hit balls out that far. 


but nevertheless, i'm trying to step outside my comfort zone and try new things and meet new people. so i'm now a member of the Moody Blues softball team at the university of alabama (don't ask me where that team name comes from ... i'm clueless. all that matters is i don't have to wear crimson and white.)


we had our first game last wednesday night and i was dreading every second of it. it was the first time in over 10 years that i had swung a bat or thrown a softball. to make matters worse, the captain of the team found great relief in the fact that i had played softball before (i mean, if you can even call what i did "playing softball") ... so he decided to make me the second basewoman ... which had me shaken to my very core. me? second basewoman? like ... an actual important position? no way. 


as the game started, i took to the field with my heart knocking against my chest. this was supposed to be FUN and to me, it couldn't have been farther from. i felt like all eyes were on me even though there were like 10 other people on the field including stephanie who has never played softball or baseball in her life. bless her.  


in the first inning, our rival kept hitting balls in the outfield with our players scrambling after them, struggling to keep each hit from becoming a homerun. we were getting CREAMED.


all of a sudden, a girl hits a groundball and its headed directly to me. dang it. time slows down and i panic in my brain. i hadn't practiced catching groundballs before the game. only pop-ups."i'm not gonna make it, i'm not gonna make it" ...................


turns out, that groundball had nothing on me and i got the out. talk about inner joy!!! 


as the game progressed, we kept getting pooped on. i, however, got another out at first (more inner joy) and scored a run. 


but in the end ... we lost 24-8 ... by the mercy rule. 


whatever. the point is: i had fun! stepping outside of your comfort zone is definitely refreshing. 


oh, and it boosts my ego knowing that i'm the second best girl on the team ... according to stephanie ... second only to the girl who played softball in high school. 


heck. yes.