By Billy Felo
The pain in my shoulder was nothing compared to the pang of my frustration. Taking the three-plus hour drive home from Washington, PA, I was upset that my plans, once again, did not play out like I intended.
It was September 2020, and I had just taken the trip to western Pennsylvania a few days earlier to play baseball in a one-month pro league. This was after my expected season from May to August in California had been canceled because of the pandemic.
Just when I thought I would be playing baseball in 2020, the universe had other plans. However, I was too blinded by my own expectations to see what they were.
If you’re an athlete reading this, I hope you never get injured. However, injuries are a part of sports and are likely to happen at some point when you’re playing at a competitive level.
So as athletes, how do we deal with injuries and overcome the adversity that they bring?
I’m more interested in the mental than physical side of recovery, as I think it’s more difficult to embrace. You know what you need to do physically to recover from an injury. You obviously need to rest and then complete whatever physical therapy your doctor or PT tells you to do. That’s the “easy” part.
The difficult part is keeping a positive mindset to truly enable your body to heal. When the finish line is far away, It’s tough to trust that you’ll be able to eventually cross it. This is where patience comes in, and patience my friends, is a tough mother fucker to master.
So, how do we remain patient and simply trust that everything will eventually work out?
Let me continue with the story of my journey back to professional baseball and see if you can relate.
After realizing I wouldn’t be playing competitive baseball for the first time since I started tee-ball 25 years ago, I was not in a good place mentally. I had experienced injuries before but never anything to my pitching shoulder that inhibited me from throwing a baseball.
I think the unknown aspect is the toughest part to accept. Being injured, you don’t really know if you’ll ever come back the same. If you’re not able to accept your fate, whether you perceive it as good or bad, you’re in for a tough road to recovery.
Everything that happens to you is part of the plan. Call it God, the universe, fate or whatever higher power you believe in, your life events are part of a formulated plan that ALWAYS work out in your favor.
However, this is typically very hard to see in the beginning of any setback. It could take months or even years to realize that what you thought was a curse actually turned out to be a blessing.
Take the guy who gets fired from his job thinking he’s lost everything only to eventually find a career path that fits him with meaningful work that he enjoys.
Or think about the wife whose husband cheats on her ultimately ending their marriage only for her to actually find mister “right” years later.
At the time, adversity sucks and it might seem that we’ll never recover, but we will eventually see that it actually worked out in our favor.
This is where patience comes in. The more you trust the universe and go with the flow, the more you’ll reap the rewards of your fortitude.
For me, I didn’t realize this until about six months later, and it’s something I still struggle with every day. As I sit here writing this, I still haven’t played professional baseball since 2019 marking a two-year hiatus from the game.
The moment I began to “let go” and place my energy elsewhere instead of incessantly thinking what would happen if I never played baseball again, I realized that I am still a complete person without the game.
As athletes, we think that our success on the field or court defines who we are. Without athletics, we sometimes feel lost and struggle to find our identity. This is commonplace for athletes of all ages, but it is something that we must get better with.
Think, you were a person before you were an athlete, and I’ll bet you brought joy to your parents’ hearts without ever picking up a ball or lacing up your shoes for a big game.
The impact you can have as a person outside the performance realm is infinitely more meaningful than anything you do on the field.
For me, it was crazy, and I swear this is the truth. As soon as I let go of all expectations of healing my shoulder and playing baseball again, I actually started to feel stronger and could sense my body truly healing.
My constant worry about recovering and playing baseball again actually slowed the healing process of my body. When I let go of all expectations, I allowed my body to do what it was designed to do, to heal.
It’s crazy that the human body can literally heal from ANYTHING. Think of the classic rock stars who spent decades destroying their bodies with alcohol and drugs who are still doing shows into their 60s and 70s.
If you provide the space and time for the body to heal, it can recover from anything that you put it through. However, it’s important to let go of all expectations and avoid rushing the intrinsic power of your healing body.
While I haven’t played baseball this season, I feel stronger and more prepared than I have for the past several years. I look forward to seeing what my body and mind can do next season while I prepare it to pitch professionally again.
For the first time in my life, I don’t identify myself as just a baseball player or athlete. I know my role as a father, friend, family member, coach and human is vastly more important than anything I could ever accomplish on the field.
This two years away from baseball, has actually brought me one of the greatest gifts I could ever receive. I have been able to spend way more time with my daughter than I would have if I was playing baseball.
Baseball season takes me away from her for at least three months at a time, and sometimes more, so this invaluable time that I’ve been able to give to her is more satisfying than throwing a shutout or striking out the side.
So, if you’re going through a tough time, try to see how the universe could actually be blessing you with adversity. It might be tough to imagine at first, but your life is always happening FOR you.
Whatever it is that you’re going through, I hope you can stay positive despite the tough times, because your next blessing could be just around the corner. You just need to give it the space to flourish.
Image courtesy: https://wholefamily.co.za/can-a-positive-mindset-heal/