Why Baseball Is Important To Me Essay

Words: 648
Pages: 3

“Comfort zones are pleasant, but nothing blossoms within them” -Anonymous, is one of my favorite quotes. Reaching out and challenging myself has become an extremely rewarding pursuit in my life. Trying my absolute hardest at a game that I love didn’t always come easy to me. In fact, it wasn’t until my sophomore year in high school that I really, truly pushed myself to be the best I could be. I’ve played baseball since I was five years old. My parents never played the game, and neither did my grandparents. In fact, I am the first person in my entire bloodline to participate in America’s pastime. I fell in love with baseball at a very young age, probably because I was pretty good at it. Despite having almost no knowledge of the game, I breezed …show more content…
I began lifting weights alone at my local gym, running sprints, and going on crazy diets. I became obsessed with hard work and put more effort into baseball in six months than I had my entire life. By the time I showed up to winter workouts for high school, I had lost nearly sixty pounds, was strong as an ox, and felt amazing. Some of my coaches didn’t even recognize me at first; I was an entirely new person. I was the embodiment of the quote, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. Eventually I realized that the biggest enemy I had overcome was myself. I was the one who was lazy and never put in the time to get better. My fear of discomfort had prevented me from finding how skilled I could be at my craft. Challenging myself to get in shape had many other benefits as well: my grades shot skyward, I got better at violin due to more diligent practice, and I also made the Suburban League All-Academic team. Challenging myself to step outside of the norm changed my life. I’ve overcome my own doubts and seen life in a new light. I plan to continue improving my work ethic and getting better at everything I do. I will never forget the year long period where I tested myself and grabbed life by the