Taking Chances, Making Choices

Albert Pujols bats in spring training, Sikes photo

On Tuesday night when St. Louis Cardinals coach Jose Oquendo halted Randy Winn as he rounded third base, Albert Pujols was visibly upset. It was the top of the ninth inning when Winn stopped running and the Pujols hit that could have resulted in the tying run did not. Pujols, the greatest player in baseball today, wouldn't have stopped. We've watched him go through Oquendo's stop sign on many occasions. He would have taken a chance Tuesday and scored. When the next two batters popped out, the game ended and the Cardinals lost 4 to 3 to the last place Pittsburgh Pirates. Winn's choice resulted in a Cardinals loss that could mean the difference between them going to the playoffs and perhaps the World Series or going home at the beginning of October.

Sometimes we need to take chances to get ahead in life or even to make our lives interesting. I think of Janet Evanovich who had a nice little writing career as a mid-list author of series books for Loveswept. I was surprised when Evanovich suddenly stopped writing for the romance line and took a year off to create the first of her Stephanie Plum novels. She had a dream of being rich and famous and she made that dream come true by taking a big chance in her career.

We make choices every day. Most of them don't require taking a big chance, but some of them do. Many writers and artists as well don't take a chance when they should.

Write something different; write the book of your heart. Experiment with your painting; use untried materials; develop a new style.

Life is too short not to take a few chances. Are you willing to try?