Mahoney, Beverly S.

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Liberty UniversityDigitalCommons@LibertyUniversityFaculty Publications and Presentations Department of Health ProfessionsWinter 2004Five Words...Beverly S. MahoneyLiberty University, bmahoney@liberty.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/health_fac_pubsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Health Professions at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For moreinformation, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu.Recommended CitationMahoney, Beverly S., "Five Words..." (2004). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 7.http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/health_fac_pubs/7Five Words Beverly S. Mahoney Five words that strike terror in my heart; words that cause my blood to run cold; in fact, words that invoke every nerve and gland to display the ful1 wrath of Selye's "fight or flight," and it's not fighting I want to do. Rather I want to run! When those five words assaulted my eardrums, and I knew they were directed at me, my whole nine-year-old-self was primed to 11m as fast as my little legs could carry me. What are those words, YOli ask? "STEP UP TO THE PLATE." I remember it today as if it truly wcre yester-day. We all have girts, talents, things that we seem able to do well, with minimal effort ..... clocsn·t mean they don't take practice, or that we can't make them belter over time, with study. with coaching ..... but they just seem to come naturally to LIS. We also have, however, those things that we seem unable to do, or, at the very best, are nble to do marginally, no matter how we try, When I was asked by our incoming PSAHPERD president, Judy Conroy, to write to you about 'stepping up to the plate' my whole childhood (well, from fourth grade on) came careening out of some corner of my past and screeched to a halt, front and center, on the big screen of my mind, There I was, Nine years old, In a new school with people I didn't know well. It was time for gym (yes, that's what they called it then" ,gym), and the sick feeling in my stomach was worsening with every passing moment, We always had to playa game where there were winners and losers, and describing me as. an "athletically challenged child" would have been the under-statement of the century. My gifts were not in the area of sports, Period, It was softball time, and my record was dismal. I WaS hoping that class would be over before I ever had to come to bat, but sllch was not my fate. Wors.e yet, my team was slightly behind; sllch that a player could have made a difference in the outcome of the gmne,by getting a hit and getting on base. The memory is long, painful, and complicated, us well as losing detail over the decades, but the bottom line was thai I, the last one chosen for the team, actually did manage to con-nect the bat with the ball and get to first base, Wow! Maybe there was hope for me afler all! The next person hit a pop fly, and I ran with all my heart I heard the sounds of my teammates hollering, cheedng me on, I sllspected ... a tolally new experience for me, .. ,.so I kept on running, missing the one important fact that someone out there in the greater universe of this ball field had caught the ball. I should have turned around, gone back to first base, but I didn't know it, so I kept on funning, not realizing that all those cheers from my teammates were actually less than complimentary .... 1 just ran, In retrospect, that day was the culmination of years of feeling inadequate at any type of physical activity, and it was also the begin-ning of my resolve to avoid anything involving sports unless I was absolutely forced to do it, and then I would comply, respectfully, and just get it over with as fast as I could. Have you ever felt that way? Oh, it might not have been about hitting a ball. Maybe for you it was about I'llaking a speech, babysitting with a brother or sister, tak-ing a lest, cooking a meal. Doing something new or different is often adrenalin producing, Today's "buzz phrase" for that feeling is to get ourselves "outside our comfort zone," to try something new, or to try aguin something we felt we failed at earlier. Whatever the sit-uation, "stepping up to the plate" can be intimidating. It can also 22 PSAHPERD Winter 2004 lead to some of the most worthwhile experiences we've ever had. Okay, you say, so stepping up to the plate doesn't just have to be in a softball game. You may think you just don't have those opportunities, or you're just too busy, Not so! We all have opportu~ nities to step up to the plate put before us many times over the course of a week, or month, or year, Some of them are small., .you observe a child, or friend, or even a stranger, who needs help, and you intervene for a moment to tie a shoe, or drive a friend to an appointment, or loan your cell phone to the stranger to make a needM ed call .. " the moment 1s over; and you go on with whatever you were doing, Some of the opportunities are larger ... and you mayor may not be the one who first sees the need. You might be asked at work to chair a committee, to spearhead an activity, to lend your expertise to colleagues who ask for it. You might be asked to share your knowlM edge, 01' your skills, to provide guidance for others who need assisM tance. Sometimes, we even get asked to do things we don't feel conM fident about..,the old softball fears can multiply fast at that point, and as adults, we can exercise our options not to get involved, but where does that leave liS? At the end of the line, without knowing for sure whether or not we might have made a difference, Part of my "stepping up to the plate" today has to do with vol-unteering, contributing my time to causes in which I believe, whether that is locally, in my hometown, at my church, or whether that is for one of my professional organizations, such as PSAH-PERD. Balance is important for good health, Please be aware thal I'm not advocating we all put our lives on hold to totally absorb Ol1l'M selves in volunteer pursuits ... far from it. I am, however, saying that through PSAHPERD you do have a chance to become involved in any number of ways. You might work with a IOCHI gI'OUP, you mighl volunteer for committee work, you mighl contribute yoUI' ol'ganiza~ tional skills or your expertise, you might do a presentation at Olll' convention, you might help others get their tasks done more effi-ciently, 01' you might share yOlll' creativity. If you have Ull intercst, there is probably a placc for you in PSAHPERD. PCl'hap' you don'l see the need right now, but I guarantee that someone oul there sees 1\ need, and would love to have you step up to the plate to help gel the job done, I'd sllggest you contact the Vice President for your arca of interest, and simply offer to volunteer. You might be amazed at the results. Oftentimes, when we "sign on" to help someone else, we end up benefiting as much or more ourselves. What better way to demonstrate your commitment to learning, or to assisting colleagues, students, or clients, than to jump in and help with a project? 011 yes, and maybe you're wondering what ever happened with softball and me? I wish that I could tell you I worked at it, gained courage and stamina, and became the star of my fourth grade softM ball team, 01' even that I figured it out by fifth or sixth grade, but that was not the case. It wasn't until I reached my 30's that I actually finally became involved in several lifetime physical activities and discovered lhat they could be fun as well as healthful. What I did discover, however, was thaI I would never know whether or not I enjoyed something, or whether or not I could be good at it, unless I gave it a try, I encolll'age you to step lip to the plate, get involved, and give something new a try. Check out your opportunities with PSAHPERD, You might discover it provides a whole new dimension to your life experience. Go ahead, YOll can do it! 

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