Being in the wrong ballpark is a mere scheduling error
Maybe I need a game changer
This simple two-line poem is meant to challenge the reader regarding both the size and nature of change that may be needed to change one’s life, to better one’s life. Being in the wrong ballpark is a generally recognized phrase for being in the wrong place to accomplish what you want to accomplish. This poem plants the idea that being in the wrong ballpark may be merely a scheduling error, a matter of timing. Of course, timing is often said to be everything, and a timing error or scheduling error itself can be fatal to one’s enterprise. However, in combination with the second line of the poem, the nature of the error committed and the change needed to correct such an error is put forth as potentially a mere distraction. Even the second line, maybe I need a game changer, has a double meaning and is more than what it first appears. The typical usage of the phrase game changer refers to a significant event that changes the course of the game. However, the second and intended meaning of this phrase refers to changing the game itself, not merely playing the current game better. Self-help gurus and inspirational speakers like to talk about paradigm shifts. The reality of needing a paradigm shift hits home when one finds oneself doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results (which many define as insanity). This usually doesn’t happen all at once, and the incremental nature of getting progressively diminishing returns on one’s investment in an enterprise often leads one with the illusion that if one just works harder, or perhaps even smarter, that one can change the nature of the unsatisfactory results one is getting. Thus, it is often not immediately clear when changing the game itself is needed, when a paradigm shift is needed. The image that comes to mind is a frog in a pot of heating water. If a frog were thrown in a pot of boiling water it would immediately jump out. But, if a frog is placed in a pot of cool water that is slowly heated, the frog will adapt to its changing conditions and desensitize itself to its impending demise, being cooked alive. Do you have something in your life that gives you a warm satisfaction, perhaps even because you have adapted so well to changing and difficult circumstances, but you are seeing red flags of some impending doom? If so, you may want to ponder changing the game. Go ahead, hop to it! Saunas can be nice for limited times but knowing when a change of venue is needed can be life saving.
