top of page

Curveballs Reveal Opportunities

Certainly, in the sport of baseball, the curveball can be more difficult to hit with accuracy; even when the bat connects with the ball, the resulting path is unpredictable due to the already spinning ball. Besides the thrust force of the pitcher throwing it, the pitcher added a twist as he threw it to create a puzzle in motion. In order to connect, the bat and the ball tangentially meet, at an exact yet unknown and unpredictable spot, propelling it to its destination, hopefully out of the reach of players on the field. There is only one spot on the ball with which the bat connects in that moment. The well-trained batter intuitively aims for that perfect spot, compensating for the spin, and hits the ball with power, propelling it into the flow, the batter swinging the best he/she can in this moment of connection.

The players operate using Intention, Intuition and Faith. The pitcher’s intention is to throw the ball in such a way that the batter will swing at it, but either hit it poorly or not at all, resulting in a strike. The pitcher allows his intuition to guide him as he throws it. He/she has faith that the intention and intuition are manifesting one of these outcomes. The pitcher is in the flow of manifesting this opportunity to cause the batter to strike at the ball.

The batter’s intention is to hit the ball at the best possible spot, that instant they connect. Intuition put him in the right stance to be able to do this; faith in the intention and intuition are now operating to manifest the opportunity to get a run or even a home run.

In tennis, the server puts a spin on the ball by slightly twisting the racquet the moment it contacts the ball. This makes it more difficult for the opponent to return the ball accurately or at all. As in baseball, the ball is propelled into a curve when the server twists it. Here again, the intentions of the server and receiver are guided by their intuition and faith. The opportunity for each player is achieving the desired outcome. Whether baseball, tennis or golf, the curveball is a collaborative effort of the player in synchrony with the flow of nature. The intention to propel the ball begins the process. Once the the ball is sent on its path, only two things are certain: first, whether or not the player has connected with the ball, propelling the ball towards a destination; and second, that the ball will stop once a destination is reached.

Once the player has hit the ball, that moment is past. The path the ball Is now on is the flow. When the ball stops traveling, it is no longer in the flow. In order to put the ball into a flow or back in the flow, the process of hitting it recurs once more. We can measure this flow formulaically, using calculus. The plot points graphically indicate intervals which we can see as points along the flow path. Because the ball leaves each plot point in its path towards the future, these points are past as soon as they are reached. When the ball is in motion, the present is at any point along this flow path until it is caught in a mitt - baseball or returned by
an opponent - tennis. Once the ball stops moving, that’s it. It has reached its destination, no longer in the future, now in the present.

The principal illustrated above illustrates exactly, the path to prosperity through giving and receiving. Getting into the flow of prosperity requires an action. The server must serve the ball, the opponent must act to return it. The pitcher must throw the ball; the batter must act to hit it. All four of these actions begin with an intention. Each requires intuition and faith to energize the flow once the intention is put into the flow path. Just like in baseball and tennis, once one takes an action - giving or receiving a gift whether financial or otherwise - one is in the flow. When a gift is received, remain in the flow by gratefully paying it forward, I.e. giving. When a gift is given, know that it returns in kind.

Many years ago, a mentor, master teacher, Sylvia Kalb, used to say:
“The past is a cancelled check; the future is a promissory note. I spend my cash wisely right now”.

Hitting the ball is like the cancelled check. Hitting the ball put it into the flow. Once in flight, it cannot go back. Its destination is like the promissory note. By spending the cash wisely right now, the flow continues as the focus, energizing the outcome with intuition and faith. Again, the focus must remain on the flow, not the beginning or end of the process.

bottom of page