Ever since my younger brother Ben was little, he has been dedicated to such a great sport. Over the years, I watched him grow and become a great baseball player. Now, he is 13 and has one more year until high school. He is on the right track to success with so many opportunities given to him. I thank my parents for reaching out and pushing us to do our best in any opportunity that comes our way, but I also thank them for letting us enjoy a game that can teach us about life.

Life isn’t always easy, just like the game of baseball. The game gets harder and more competitive as you get older. The pitching mound moves farther from home plate, the bases move further away from each other, and you have to learn to become more independent and make the right decisions in the game. A strong baseball player may have bad and good days on the field. They may strike out a few times, but they don’t hang their heads. Instead, they try again the next time, they practice to get better at the game, they listen to advice that the coaches give them, and then they go out swinging. If they get a lucky swing, they might come all the way home. A strong baseball player may not always have that lucky swing. They may hit the ball, but it was an easy out into the center field’s glove. Sometimes, they may make bad decisions when trying to get to the next base and the pitcher picks them off, but a strong player runs back to his teammates in the dugout and knows how to be a good sport. They must work hard to get to home plate, learn from their mistakes, and pay attention to the game. They must never keep their eye off the ball. In life, we must all try to be strong baseball players.

Like a baseball game, life gets more difficult as we get older. We become stronger and more independent. We may move further away from home, but we must never forget where we came from. We may have good and bad days, but we must learn from our mistakes, get back up, and try to make the right decisions the next time. We must support our family, friends and ourselves, just like a baseball player supports his teammates. We must never keep our eyes off of our goals and overcome the obstacles that we face. Always pay attention and enjoy life, because just like the game of baseball, life ends eventually and we never know when that time will come. We must cherish the moments we have on this Earth with our family and friends by our side.