If at First You Don't Succeed....

Sosa. McGuire. Bonds. You know who I'm talking about? It occurred to me as I was reading about these guys, that there is something that isn't told to us about any of them, and that is how many times they struck out this year. They only talk about the hits. I'll bet the strikeouts were at least double the hits. I know the figures on Babe Ruth's lifetime career. He hit 714 home runs, but he struck out 1,330 times. There is a message in there somewhere and that is that success in life is not the absence of failure. As someone once said, "If at first you don't succeed, you're running about average."
In my humble opinion, success is really one failure after another, through which we learn and become better. It really is. The only real failure in life is not to try. There was one baseball pitcher who was asked what was the most difficult thing about pitching? He said, "Letting go of the first ball, because up to then, you have a no-hitter." Remember the first time you tried to swim? You swam, just like that, right? I didn't. I went down like a piece of lead. I bet you can't remember the first time you tried to walk, but I bet I know what happened. You fell down. And that is life. Life is risking, failing, again, and then again, in order to reach real success. Especially in light of recent events, I pray that I don't ever forget that and always keep trying.