Missed it by that much

Remember Maxwell Smart?

The 1960's secret agent who alongside the alluring Agent 99 attempted to thwart the attempts by KAOS (the international organization of evil) to takeover the world?

Remember Smart's catchphrases? "Would you believe...?" "Sorry Chief." "Good thinking, 99!"

"Missed it by that much."

Ever look at your life and realize how close you came to having your life go in a completely different direction? How the course of your path was molded by what seemed at the time to be a very small decision? How you missed something...by that much?

I am not saying going from bad to good or vice versa. Just how it would've been different.

Where we are today is the culmination of thousands of puzzle pieces that have been collected over the years and placed in our lives.

I have a lot. I've also missed some things. We all have.

(Excuse me, I need to call my friends with this revelation).

Curve balls, change-ups and strikeouts.

I have always said, don't judge a pitcher until he goes through the line-up the second time. Hitters start seeing the ball better. They pick up the spin and rotation better. Their timing is better.

The pitcher then needs to adapt. He needs to change things up as he goes to counter the hitter's strategy.

Second time through.

It plays out in life as well. Doesn't matter what situation you find yourself in. No matter what level of adversity. Once you've seen it once, you are better equipped to handle whatever hits you the second time around.

You gain experience. You gain perspective. You gain insight.

There is one catch though. Sometimes you can't just "learn from the situation." You need to unlearn.

The great Zen philosopher Alan Watts once said "A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.” Unlearning creates a paradigm shift that rotates the view of the situation 180 degrees. By changing the lens, the situation itself creates a different dynamic altogether. Rather then second time through, it becomes first time through.

The key is knowing when to learn something or unlearn something altogether.

Batter up!