Bowling and Business

This post is an article written by my friend Debbie Barth of NC Women’s Network. Debbie would like you to visit http://www.sharethecause.com/healthline

Life Lesson: My Bowling Epiphany

Who knew going bowling could teach me another life lesson!

My husband bowls once a month with some of his co-workers, and suggested recently that I should go with him to meet them, and also to visit with those that I already knew. It was the day of the event that he let me know that I would also be bowling. Now, most know that I am an avid football fan. However, few know that I don’t bowl…nada…zilch….forget about it.

Being the trooper I am (ok, actually I knew I could use this to my advantage later), I stepped up to the challenge.

While we played three games, my “focus” will remain on the first game; which, the day after, has been deemed “the highlight of the evening”.

Needless to say, by the middle of the first game it was evident that I would be helping the team to increase their handicap. After a couple of gutter balls, I managed to settle down and take out a few pins. I was determined to block out the loving, forgiving eyes of my teammates, and focus on getting the ball straight down the middle of the lane. I stepped up to the line, started to walk forward, concentrating solely on my ball in hand and the arrows on the floor. I was one with the ball. I was one with the arrows. I knew the minute I let the ball go, that it was going straight down the middle. It was a perfect strike ball It was a beautiful sight to behold. I instantly spun around to face my teammates, expecting applause and a few “you got it going on girlfriend!”, but instead was met with the look of astonishment and shock on their faces. Paul, my husband, had his hands up on his head and a wide-eyed look of disbelief. I swung back around and realized that the pin-setter was still down.

The ball struck the pin-setter with a very loud BANG….and then started rolling (still perfectly in the middle) back towards me before stopping. One of the bowling alley attendents had to retrieve the ball since it stopped about half-way. She told Paul that he owed the bowling alley a new pin-setter, but fortunately this was just her sick sense of humor.

So what is the life lesson in this story that I referred to in the beginning? No it really isn’t that I should turn in my bowling shoes, and not be allowed within a five mile radius of a bowling lane.

The lesson that I learned is that I was so focused on holding the ball correctly and matching up with the arrows, that I didn’t take the time to literally look around and see what was in front of me.

In this case, the pin-setter was down and not moving. What could have been a glorious moment (although brief) of victory and celebration, turned into…well in this case…what is now being described as the “highlight of the evening”.

And this lesson transcends into my personal and professional life as well. My suggestion…my life lesson I want to share with you, is simply this.
It’s good to focus…you need to focus. But don’t focus on a few details so intensely, that you forget to look around and see what’s clearly in front of you before proceeding. It really could be the difference in how you score.