It was in the movie "For love of the Game", that I first heard about the secret. Kevin Costner plays the role of a serious Baseball player who is well established in his art and almost a "Guru" to other budding amateurs playing for his club. Mentoring the younger lads he repeats to them what his father told him during his childhood days, when he himself first learnt to play the game - "While playing, first thing one has to do is, clear the mechanism" (Here *mechanism refers to your mind) of distractions like the crowd, the sounds, the cheers, the boos, the worries, the rewards etc and just focus on the next task at hand, in his case, the next ball to be thrown or hit. Remembering this, definitely helps; in any game as well as in life. If you know that you follow this, success and failure hardly matter as you know that you have given your best to that moment and justice was done from your side.
This is a bit off-topic, but there is another interesting quote that he makes in the movie "Bull Durham" that was also based on Baseball. It goes, "It's a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains. Think about it".
When I thought about it, I felt I understood this philosophy. Sometimes it goes according to your plans, sometimes it goes according to your enemy's (opponent's) plan, while other times something weird happens; that which you never imagined or expected. May be this happens when God (or the unknown almighty force) has his way.
*mechanism n. 1 a piece of machinery. 2 the way something works or happens. ~ Oxford English Dictionary.
A scene from "For love of the Game"
This is a bit off-topic, but there is another interesting quote that he makes in the movie "Bull Durham" that was also based on Baseball. It goes, "It's a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains. Think about it".
When I thought about it, I felt I understood this philosophy. Sometimes it goes according to your plans, sometimes it goes according to your enemy's (opponent's) plan, while other times something weird happens; that which you never imagined or expected. May be this happens when God (or the unknown almighty force) has his way.
*mechanism n. 1 a piece of machinery. 2 the way something works or happens. ~ Oxford English Dictionary.
A scene from "For love of the Game"
