Life Lessons Learned from Kickball

Image by Bunch of Pants

I am so sore today from playing my first ever game of Kickball. It was tuesday and my company had a random day off due to rules about actors actually needing rest. Because I have 11 consecutive days of work coming up, I took the day off too and myself and 7 of my coworkers went to play Kickball in the park. None of us are very sporty so it was a lot of fun, though we did get competitive in the end. 

Upon reflecting on it today, there are some things that a game of Kickball can teach you. 

1. You Can Have Fun Without Spending Money

8 grown adults were able to go out and be completely entertained for several hours with a ball and a field for free. No money was spent except in gas to get there, and one person rode a bike and spent nothing. 

2. If You Want Something Better, You Should Ask For It

When we got to the park, the ball field had a man and his son doing batting practice on, so we started playing on a slope, which meant we were pitching downhill and first base was an uphill run. After a couple of innings, I went over and asked very nicely if the man would mind trading spaces, since he was just throwing balls to his son. He agreed and we got to move to a nice flat field, simply because we asked. 

3. Good Friends Will Support You

Not only did we all cheer each other on a lot during our game, but there were a few times when Daniel might not have made a catch that Doug was right there behind him as a safety net. Keeping each other pumped up and excited made the game more fun, and people letting me know if I made a good kick made me feel so much better even if that kick was caught and I was out. It was the support of my friends that made it so awesome. 

4. Teamwork Goes a Long Way

A ball can bounce out of one persons hands and another teammate can be right there to catch it before it hits the ground. Life can be like that. 

5. Winning Isn't Everything

Today at work all of the Kickball players were sore and tired, but we were all laughing and raving about the game and what a good time we had... and almost no one mentioned which team won. It was the game, not the win. 

6. Memories are Free

I was on the winning team, we were in extra innings, and we were tired. Finally the bases were loaded, bottom of the twelfth (I think), and I ran home from third and scored the winning run. From there we all started screaming and I ran into my teammates arms and he swung me round and both teams came over and we were laughing and jumping up and down with excitement (mostly because the game was over and we could stop being out of breath). It was like a scene from a movie and it's a memory that I will have for the rest of my life. 

It's moments like that, memories like that, that will stay with me.... and there is no price-tag on that. It was blissfully free and will last a lifetime.