Last weekend and this past week were full of softball at my house. Underdogs making a run at their best seasons ever.
Makes me wonder… do you ever feel like an underdog in your own life? Like maybe the odds are stacked against you before you even step up to the plate?
Maybe the other team looks stronger, faster, is better equipped, or more certain of themselves. Maybe they’ve got fancy new uniforms or a louder cheering section. They might even look like a team filled with confidence, while you’re standing, watching, wondering if anyone else can hear your knees knocking.
I’ve been there, done that, but there is something about an underdog, that gets to the heart of me.
An underdog knows what it feels like to be underestimated. They know how to keep showing up when the scoreboard is headed in the wrong direction. An underdog knows how to play with heart because heart may be the one thing no one else can see or measure ahead of the game.
Maybe that’s why I cheer for them.
Not so much because they aren’t expected to win, but because they remind me that the game is not over just because someone else decided who should come out on top before the game ever started. Just like the Kentucky Derby winner this year, a 23-1 longshot, Golden Tempo surprised the world and crossed the finish line ahead of the expected winners.
In life, I’ve had moments when I felt outsmarted, outplayed, outmatched. I’ve faced grief, change, illness, disappointment, aging, rejection, uncertainty, or a dream that seemed too big for the little bit of courage I woke up with this morning. I took a look at the field of my life and wondered if I have what it takes to stay in the game.
The answer didn’t come galloping in with a pocket full of confidence. But today, it showed up as one small swing and a brave burst towards first base. That first swing led to one more inning, one more decision to keep running and not count myself out too soon.
The underdog rarely knows how the story will end. They just know they will keep running, keep swinging, and keep playing as long as they are still in it.
Maybe that’s the invitation to all of you this week. Look at the places where you feel outmatched and ask, “What if I am not as far behind as I think? What if this is not the last chapter but just the next one in my story? What if I still have a season in me I don’t see coming yet?”
So here’s to all the underdogs; the quiet ones, and the tired ones. The ones still dusty from that last race or slide into second… to the ones brave enough to stand up and keep running.
Remember, sometimes the best seasons begin long before the scoreboard lights up or the starting gate opens.
May you all swing for the fences.
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Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickildobbsauthor