conversation catch

Playing a good game of catch is a lot like good-stimulating conversation. Tossing around the ball with a friend is without question my choice pastime. However, I find equal satisfaction from good conversation. But not just any conversation; a type of dialogue that excites and inspires. A type I will call "conversation catch."

It is intoxicating to catch the worn cowhide-leather ball in the web of my glove and then zing it back with gusto into another's glove. The glove (the mind) catches the ball (the idea) and then throws it back at the other person. When playing catch with a friend, I find myself trying out new ways to catch the ball, and creative ways to throw the ball into his or her glove. Sometimes it’s a bad throw. Sometimes I throw the ball short, and it doesn’t quite reach the person. And sometimes I throw it over the person’s head, and he has to going running after the ball. You see the key to a good game of catch is for one to throw the ball close enough so that it lands into the glove of the other. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to throw the ball right on target each and every time.

Much like the mind, a well-stretched, athletic person can get to a ball that may take some sincere effort on his part to catch. Many sports fans often witness spectacular catches and spot-on-throws on Sports Center’s TOP 10 Plays of the day. Let exhibit A be, “the diving catch.” The diving catch is the acme of one’s skill. During a ball game a defensive player must be on the balls of his feet, prepared and alert. The ball may be hit his direction in any number of ways. He must position himself in such a way as to ensure plenty of time to backpedal, sidestep, or suddenly scoop up, or dive for the ball; to “catch the idea.”

As a little boy I tried nearly every technique in order to get my baseball glove formed just the way I wanted it so I could be successful on the field. I consulted my friends, asked my coaches, and even came up with some innovative ways of my own to soften that glove and mold it to perfection. I dug up some of my dad’s old glove oil and rubbed that good stuff on every last inch of the glove. I put it in the microwave; I slipped it under my mattress and jumped on my bed until I was too dizzy to jump anymore. I even had my friends’ older brother run it over with his car. All this so my glove would be fully operational come game time.

Do we take similar steps to prepare our minds, like I did my old childhood glove, before we step out onto the field each day? I maintain that the better oiled our glove, and the more familiar we are with it, we will meet with a kind of success that few only dream about. Our glove will thus be enabled to catch nearly any good throw that comes its way. It will take that idea, synthesize that idea, apply that idea, give feedback to that idea, then dart it back off into the other person’s mind.

To lob a ball back in forth while remaining a short distance away from a friend would be, well, rather dull. A good game of catch, unadulterated “conversation catch”, insists on taking a few steps back, and testing out new ideas, or ways to throw the ball. Only then will you truly enjoy the reciprocity and thrill of—“playing catch." With fair warning, you may fatigue. But know, that the more challenging and difficult the game, greater the reward will be. When one is engaged in that type of conversation, the mind is probed, tested and stretched. I believe the great Vince Lombardi understood the concept of "conversation catch" very well. He once said, “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious."

Now ready your glove, get a good grip on that ball, and let's play catch.