Advice of the Year

At those moments, when all my most passionate players are up in arms, when my team is shouting for a foul, I have learned to breathe.  I have learned to let the moment slow down so that turning my head becomes a soft wind of color and blinking my eyes takes a new picture of the faces around me.  So that my hands hold onto my bat.  So that my ears rest in sound advice.  So that my feet settle in the soft dirt of decision.

2010 was a moment and here is the advice I heard in its long, unhurried sigh.  It was, without a doubt, the best advice I received this year and it was from my sister.  She said, “Be there.  Be where you are and that will keep you safe.”