I’ve never been good at team sports and especially ones that included… (get your minds out of the gutter!) BALLS! All through school, I was never chosen first for any team and I don’t think I was ever properly taught how to hit a softball. And whenever someone would ask me to play, I would always reply, “I’m just not that kind of girl.” But secretly…I always wished I was. I always wanted to be that girl who hits the ball out of the park and was genuinely awesome at every sport…all the while staying feminine. So, yesterday, I walked in Chelsea Piers and headed straight for the batting cages. “I’m here to hit some balls…” I said. “Ok, how many tokens?” “Tokens? This is for adults, right?” The man behind the desk smiles and nods his head, Yes. I chose three tokens which gave me a total of 30 pitches. I asked for any last minute advice seeing as I don’t remember hitting an actual softball/baseball EVER…he said, “Make sure you stand in the box next to the base.” Ok, I thought. I can do this. I picked out my helmet and a bat and put my first token in the machine. I was genuinely nervous; heart-racing, palms sweaty. It was conjuring up the same feelings I had when I walked into Planned Parenthood or when I knocked on my neighbors doors to introduce myself or when I went to an AA meeting. Why was I feeling the same when all were entirely different scenarios? My first pitch comes….I swing and I miss. Second one….nope, missed that one, too. Cut to pitch TEN aaaaannnnd…I missed again. Maybe this is something I can’t learn. But, I remember what my juggling coach said, “No one ever fails.” So, I put my second token in…And by pitch 6…I HIT ONE!!!!! I was so excited, jumping up and down that I missed pitch 7! By my third token, I actually hit THREE balls!!! I couldn’t believe it! I ran out and bought another token. Last ten pitches, I hit FIVE balls! FIVE!!! I walked away on a high. You just don’t know what you’re capable of until you try. Maybe I am becoming that kind of girl after all.