The Power of Being Present

As the Blue Jays look to tie up their wild card series today with the Twins, I’m hopeful that the players will be able to do what their President, Mark Shapiro said in his interview on Breakfast Television on Tuesday, October 3.  Mr. Shapiro said, “To be a successful player you’ve got to be present. You’ve got to be in the moment. You can't be thinking about the past, the trauma, you know, that comes with the past. You can't think too far into what the future may hold. So, for us to be successful from a player perspective, these guys need to be in the moment, this pitch, this inning, this game, not thinking too far ahead. If we do that with the talent we've got, we'll play deep in October, hopefully win the last pitch, the last out in the championship season for us, those we're.”

Since the Jays lost game 1 does that mean they weren’t in the moment. Not necessarily.  Being in the moment doesn’t mean you win. Sometime the other team or the other player is just better than you, or makes a better play. 

Every athlete has been in the zone. The zone is that ultra present moment when things slow way down and you perform at your best.  Royce Lewis of the Twins seemed to be in the zone yesterday with two homeruns in his first two at bats.  Which just happened to be his first at bats since coming off the injured list. 

So, if athletes know what the zone is, why is it so hard for them to get into the zone.  The answer is because their thinking gets in the way.  Or rather, their misunderstanding of the nature of thought gets in the way. 

This is what I help athletes and all my clients realize for themselves.  Once you know how the mind works, understand the nature of thought, and connect with your true nature, you’ll be on the path to being in the zone more often and when it counts most. 

Here’s hoping the Jays spend some time in the zone today.

Let’s go Blue Jays!