You Can't Have Enough Bad Ideas
Get this - Babe Ruth held Major League baseball's career strikeout record from 1926 until 1964. But what gave him such grief also made him the home run king. He swung at a LOT of pitches... and SOME of them connected! You've gotta love that. You can't have too many ideas because some of them will be great ones!
This year has been a year of strike-outs for me. I've asked favors that only got laughter on the phone. Feels like I've had more unreturned phone calls than answered ones. And I've had e-mail requests go completely ignored. The assistant to a very famous ministry leader wrote, "I don't know who this Ben is, but he'd better learn protocol."
Not easy for me, I'll admit. But I'm in good company. Call me the Benbino.
Ben,
This was encouraging and a bit funny. Protocol! Blah! Even Jesus taught on persistence in prayer using a neighbor who was being a nuisance asking for bread for guests.
I have been persistent to the point of embarrassment, but that is better than quitting. If it were for me then I would be out of order in my persistence, but it is for the lost.
We need to even annoy people so that they will finally take part in God’s great adventure, the Great Commission.
Blessings to you and your family.
Posted by: Mike Watkins | January 13, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Dude, THANK YOU for this post! I needed to be reminded of this! I'll probably be reposting something similar to this on my own blog! I'll credit you for the inspiration.
Keep going against "protocol"! When did God's called servants start hiding behind three assistants and becoming isolated CEO's anyways? Doesn't sound right to me.
Posted by: Cody Thomas | January 13, 2009 at 10:03 AM
I also needed to hear this, as I have yet to hear from any company I have applied to. It can get very discouraging, but I will keep trying.
Posted by: Shawna | January 13, 2009 at 10:09 AM
I JUST said this to our team on Sunday night - nearly word for word - crazy. I completely understand the frustration in hearing this "protocol" crap. Glad to hear your correct thinking about this. You're right, swing at 1000 pitches and even if you bat .300 you'll make the Hall of Fame. Failure is relative. Wish my high school teachers allowed me to bat 30%. Thanks Ben!
Posted by: Stephen Webb | January 13, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Great post, Ben. Keep swinging!
Posted by: Tony McCollum | January 13, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Love this post. Keeping it all in perspective. :)
Lucille Ball’s (I Love Lucy) career didn’t start off so well. She was once dismissed from drama school for being too quiet and shy.
Clint Eastwood was once told by a Universal Pictures executive that his future wasn’t very promising. The man said, “You have a chip on your tooth, your Adam’s apple sticks out too far, and you talk too slow.”
Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.
Posted by: daniel d | January 13, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Great post. Keep swinging. Sadly, we don't often see the results as quickly as baseball.
Isn't there some analogy written about planting seeds? :)
Do not grow weary doing good.
Posted by: D. Statham | January 15, 2009 at 12:06 AM