Sometimes in life opportunities come along that simply need to be taken with both hands.
In February I was fortunate, as part of the Ocean Beach Country Cricket Club, to have the opportunity to play cricket at New Zealand’s “home of cricket”, The Basin Reserve, in Wellington.
There’s a back story to that – perhaps for another time. Suffice it to say it was “kindred” cricket – not a test match!
Having now had time to reflect on it there are a few lessons from this experience that apply not only in that setting but to life in general.
Plan ahead
The date for this fixture was set several months ago. The way the world works these days it is not uncommon for people to be loath to commit to things “in case something better comes up”.
Those that planned, and committed, to be there were there. For the “cricketers” there was no better opportunity coming up.
Take opportunities
Given the potential “one off” nature of this it was a reasonably simple decision process to commit to being there. Often an opportunity is not as clear cut as this was. The fact remains that every day we are presented opportunities to make choices of one activity over another – e.g. do I go for a run or do I not?
Be prepared to take opportunities when you see them. Some will work out and some wont. That’s life.
Enjoy the moment
Knowing this was likely to not happen again made it very front of mind to soak it all in. Yes – we took photo’s and videos of being there but we also simply stood on the ground and savoured the fact that we were there on that hallowed turf.
In our fast-paced world the “take time to smell the roses” sentiment can sometimes get lost in the haste to move on to the next thing.
Shared experiences make for great memories
Being able to share the day with teammates, and with wives and partners, added to the depth of the experience. The post-match, and during it, banter will provide lifelong memories. In the group environment it was very evident that different parts of the experience meant different things to different people. We all have our own take on life.
As the saying goes “go through life collecting experiences and adventures – not things”.
Gratitude
We were very fortunate to be able to have this day due to the generosity of our hosts, The Wanderers Cricket Club. There were many people involved in organising the day, getting us access to the ground and the facilities, organising catering, having scorers and umpires available on the day. The list goes on.
We are all genuinely thankful and appreciative for all the logistics that it took to make this happen.
For the record
For those of you who need to know the details I will take a 5 ball “duck” on The Basin to my grave along with 2 very fortuitous wickets!
