Focus

I’m not much of a baseball fan. I know it’s “America’s Pastime” and all, but I’ve always been more of a football guy. Baseball is fun to watch in person, but I’ll only watch it on TV if I’m also doing something else or if I need a nap.

That said, one of my favorite movies (that I’ve watched numerous times) is For Love of The Game. I also read the book a few years ago. The movie makers changed some of the plot and character arcs while keeping the basic story the same. It happens.

Even though pitcher Billy Chapel is a big jerk through much of the movie (he’s not in the book), you still feel for him as he’s struggling through the baseball game. You can tell he truly does love the game, and he keeps himself focused on the task at hand as he (Spoiler Alert) throws a perfect game.

As he tries to drown out the opposing fans and block all of the distractions around him, Chapel repeats to himself “clear the mechanism” in order to help him focus.

Too often, this is what it is like being a teacher. We have so many things being thrown at us, and we are being pulled in twenty different directions. Lately there is so much extra going on in and around the school that it has been very easy to get distracted and lose focus about what really matters…the kids. If I can’t keep myself focused, my students suffer for it in the end. I can’t have that.

I don’t repeat any mantras before I teach, but for me, when I pull my door shut (and sometimes take a really deep breath) at the beginning of each class, it is symbolizing in my mind that I’m shutting out all of the distractions that are going on outside. Shutting my door doesn’t solve all of the world’s problems or make them go way, but it does help me to focus on the task at hand: taking care of my students.

I may not throw a perfect game every class, but for 90 minutes, three times a day, I do what I can to clear out all of the noise and try to throw as many strikes as possible…For Love of the Game.