Have you ever ducked when you should have dodged?

Happens to me all the time.

I first learned about this when I was a kid.  Back in the days of riding bikes without helmets…. and eating at salad bars before the invention of the sneeze-guard.

Yes.  Back in the days of small children playing dodgeball in church basements all across the nation.

This was our Go-To Game at Our Lady of Mercy Grade School, when the weather was inclement.  And by inclement, it had to be bad.  Those nuns were hard core, and our little butts would be out on the playground, unless there was a Typhoon, or a Blizzard, or worse.

Anyway.  I digress. Dodgeball.

Oh how I loved Dodgeball.  But I was dang good at it.  It would always come down to me and Steve Dahm on either side of the line.  And it was cut throat.  I think Steve and I probably split the victories about down the middle.

But I can remember the first time I ducked, when I should have dodged.  One never forgets the feeling of having that hard rubber dodgeball hit you square in the face when you are nine years old.  The sting…. the dizziness…. the loss of rational thinking…..  ALL of this just before you see the stars…. and then feel the cold hard cement …..of the church basement floor …. pressed squarely on your cheek.

All nuns wore the same kind of shoes back then, by the way.  It is the first thing you see as you regain consciousness after sustaining the final hit of a dodgeball game.

At any rate.  I ducked when I should have dodged.

This happens to me a little more often than I like, as an adult.  Not so much on the dodgeball court.  But on the day to day maneuvering through this or that.

I have found that I typically get hit square in the face, when I really try to control a situation.  So many times  I think I know the right way.  Yet, there may be a hundred other better ways.  Yet, I persist and push.  And resist.

So I am beginning to realize this.   The more we fight against certain things….. be it life circumstances, events, people, ideas…. and on and on…. it seems, the more we will contribute to their presence and persistence into our daily lives.

It might serve me better, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually…. if I could learn to shift  the focus from that which I don’t wish to happen ….. to that which I am for.  And all the while, bending with ideas…. instead of trying to force them.

I guess the bottom line is this.  The more focus and energy we put on any particular thing…. the more we attract it in our lives.  Good or bad.  So if we centralize our efforts on the remarkable,…. it will more likely come about.

But if we say over and over….. “I just know this is going to be difficult.  I know it is going to be a hard situation.  This is just going to be terrible..”     Well.  Guess what.  It will probably be just as difficult as you predicted.    Ducking…. when we should have dodged.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.  —  Dalai Lama