It’s (Probably) Not Too Late to Follow Your Dreams

We all regret things from our past that we did or didn’t do. I probably have more than my fair share; I regret not trying harder in college, I regret not following my dreams earlier in my career, I regret not settling down and starting a family sooner. If I had done any of those differently, it probably would have changed my life in pretty profound ways. There is one regret I have that has been niggling at me a lot lately-it’s not one that would have changed the course of my life-but I can’t shake it for some reason. I wish I would have played softball as a kid. 

As far as I can remember, which, let's be honest, is not that far, I don’t remember ever expressing to my parents an interest in playing softball. As a kid, I was what could be described as “indoorsy.” I loved to read and my lifelong dream has always been to be a writer. Back then, I wasn’t particularly active or naturally athletic, so my parents never pushed me to pursue sports. It wasn’t until I got to middle school and realized the “cool girls” played sports that I ever showed an interest. I spent one summer getting (what I thought was) really good at volleyball at the YMCA and tried out for the team in the fall. I made the team-the C team. If you’re not familiar with A, B and C team sports, that means the A team is good, the B team is decent and the C team is basically just the reserve team in case someone on A or B twists an ankle or fails science. We only had practice once a week-we weren’t worth the effort for more than that. That fall was the beginning and end of my volleyball career. 

When I got to high school, I took a year of PE and thought, “nope, don’t want to do this anymore.” I took tennis lessons the summer after my freshman year so I could join the tennis team. Since our tennis team accepted people who’d never even held a racket before, I knew chances were good that I’d make the team. I did, but after a year and a half of playing, it was clear I was never going to be “varsity material” and they don’t let seniors play on JV. I’d fulfilled my PE credit, so I quit. 

But I always secretly envied the softball girls. I did a story on them for our school newspaper (I wrote for the school newspaper? I know that probably comes as quite a shock). I saw that they were a tight-knit group and always seemed to be having so much fun. Tennis isn’t really a team sport-yes, you’re on a team, but you’re not working toward a unified goal. 

Plus the fact, I’ve always loved Baseball. Being from Houston, I can’t remember a time I wasn’t watching Astros games. Watching isn’t playing though. Holding a bat and waiting until just the right moment when you make a perfect connection with the ball…just seems like so much fun. When I watch the Astros outfielders make a seemingly impossible catch and prevent the other team from scoring a run, I think, “what a rush that must be!”

As an adult, I’ve realized that my ADHD brain responds well to activities that involve long periods of waiting, followed by that one moment of excitement that spikes an adrenaline rush. I enjoy hunting, fishing and thrift shopping-all activities that satisfy that “wait, wait, wait OMG THIS IS IT!” rush. 

The other day as I was lamenting the softball career that could have been, I thought, “wait a minute!” What the heck. I’m not dead. I’m healthy. I’m in reasonably good shape…what’s stopping me from playing softball right the heck now?”

The answer: absolutely nothing. Other than perhaps the fact that it’s not softball season, I don’t know anything about adult softball leagues and I have no idea how to (or if I can) hit a ball. In a couple months, though, I can get past all of those things. I’ve already done a google search for “adult softball leagues near me” and there was no shortage of results. They have one for just about every skill level with staggered start dates. Then I Googled “batting cages near me” and found one in Rosenberg that has reasonable prices and hours conducive to my schedule. 

Starting next week, I’m going to take myself to the batting cages and learn to hit a ball. It’s just like tennis, right? Hit the little ball with the big stick. I can learn to do that. 

Unless your dream is to become an Olympic gymnast or the youngest person ever to win a Nobel prize, it’s probably not too late to say goodbye to regret and follow those dreams.