After reading in today's paper about Barry Bond's home run, I was reminded of a time long ago when he spoke with the San Franciso Bay area Little League players.  This day was a special one at the Giant's field because it was a day when any Little Leager could come to the practice before the game and see the players up close.  I was sitting in the stands among a rather small crowd of kids and their parents right down near home base, especially excited because Barry Bonds was going to come out to the bleachers and talk with the kids.

    I was thinking what a nice things this was for Barry to do when he suddenly appeared in front of us to do a little talk and then answer questions the kids had.  One thing that he said at that time has always stuck in my memory.  When asked by a little boy what was the most important thing that helped him hit all his home runs, he thought awhile and then answered this way:

   He said that there were two things that he considered most important to his success as a hitter.  The first is when he was a little boy and his parent (father I think) used to through him pitches with balls that had one of three numbers on it...either a one, two or a three.  He was only supposed to hit one of those numbers.  That, more than anything else helped him focus on the ball.  The second thing he said was most important to his hitting ability was that he spent time every day just closing his eyes and visualizing himself as hitting the ball.  He would see in his mind's eye or imagine seeing the ball coming his way, then his bat hitting the ball.  He would imagine it in as much detail as he could.  So, visualization helped him train as much as actual practice did.

   I was thrilled that he was able to talk about the power of visualization, imagination or positive thought.  I also thought about the parallels between that and crystal/stone working.  Just as in baseball, the strength and clarity of our focused thought is vitally important to our work.  Actually, it's important in everyday life too.  Where we put our focus and how we think about it surely helps form our experience.

 

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