She loves playing softball. Her competitive nature shows up in many facets of the game. As a second baseman she dives for groundballs that have a chance of getting to the outfield. She races for fly balls and pop ups that she must get and usually does get. While batting she will take one for the team. She will allow a hard pitched ball to hit her so she can get on base. She will stand up to any pitcher, no matter how hard they throw, to get her swings in. On the bases is where she is fearless. Diving or sliding into a base with no apparent concern for her body has often scared me. Taking the the extra base when most girls just stand around has earned her a thumbs up from her coaches.

She has stepped in and played against players, in some tournaments, that are five to six years older than her. Some of these girls are over six feet tall. My daughter is five feet two inches if we put her on a stretching table. Her lack of height has been made up by her determination.. Starting for her high school team as a Freshman was quite an accomplishment. What was even better was that her coach favors Juniors and Seniors because they have more experience.

Baseball and softball have been a large part of my life. Writing this e-zine about my daughter has been a pleasure. She has made her dad proud. I feel like I am glowing inside when I watch her play. I feel like I am the luckiest father on earth.

My fantasy baseball story has come to reality through my daughter. I wanted one of my children to excel in baseball. She is the one that has carried the ball and bat. She may or may not want to continue her career after High School. That is up to her. But for now I am able to watch, admire and feel proud.

I have admired Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays and Derek Jeter to name a few players that impressed me. My daughter has tied Derek Jeter as one of my all time favorites. They are both on my top ten list.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would enjoy reading about baseball or the Hall of Fame.

Even a handicap cannot be used as an excuse. Many handicapped but determined people have become achievers and champions. Instead of using a handicap as an excuse, let us turn it into an asset. Let us explore this further.

A handicap need not be a reason for failure. On the contrary, a handicap can be a reason for success. People with a handicap always have an offsetting strength that allows them to overcome problems better than others.

A person with a handicap has one obsession – to lead a normal life. Depending on the handicap, a person would prefer to be as independent as possible. So he struggles and finds ways to overcome his impediment. When he is able to achieve his goal, this raises his self-esteem. In turn, he inspires others.

Everybody has handicaps in varying forms and degree. That is why; it requires effort and determination to overcome them. Handicaps can either be physical, financial, or emotional. And they can either be real or imagined.

Whenever we look at a handicap, we almost always look on the negative side only. It’s about time we take a look at the positive side of it. The positive side may be the difficult side, but it’s the one worth looking into. It’s the side that is going to lead us to excel in life.

If you think your handicap is physical, like having a weak body, you can counteract this through proper diet and training exercises. As long as the physical parts of your body are intact and mobile, there’s no reason why you cannot make it strong and useful. Why? Even those without a leg (for example) can be made to walk or run normally. With the advancement of science, artificial legs can help a handicap function with great mobility.

It your handicap is financial, then the more reason you have to rise above your present status. And if your financial status limits your educational attainment to improve your life, the school is not the only place to learn. Certainly, there are help centers to get you started even from zero level. Once you are initially warmed up with the basics of an education, the rest is up to you. Make use of libraries. Once you are educationally equipped, use your brain and come up with creative ideas to improve your life.

If you are emotionally disturbed with negative thoughts, it is like you are sitting on a chair with wobbling legs. Try sitting on a chair with sturdy legs; meaning, look at the bright, positive side of life. Put aside negativity and start thinking positively. The only one who can stop you is yourself.

If your handicap is a combination of any of the physical, financial, or emotional type, congratulations. You should strive more to overcome them, because a double layer of perseverance results to more than double the achievement. Where the odds are greater, the prize gets much bigger. After all the efforts you have exerted, the prize of success shall be a well-deserved one.

Many so-called new age books (and spiritual books) that have been written over these past few decades are emphatic that we are indeed in a new age spiritual era that is NEW in every aspect to what has come before. However, researching older spiritual books and philosophy books shows that humankind has passed through eras of high enlightenment before – inspirational times of metaphysical and spiritual awareness that equals or surpasses our current times. So is this perhaps not a new age as such, but simply a remembering of metaphysical, esoteric, inspirational parapsychology and spiritual powers that all of us possess but have temporarily forgotten. If this be the case, then perhaps a more apt term would be Mind Body Spirit.

Which brings us to another so-called new age term … parapsychology. New age parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena and the term parapsychology comes from the Greek para ‘beside, beyond’ and psychology, derived from the Greek psyche ‘soul, mind’. So, here we are back to the spiritual again or, as mentioned above, Mind Body Spirit. And yet, some people still insist that spiritual books, new age books and new age parapsychology are totally separate themes. Perhaps that’s why more and more people are coining the phrase Mind Body Spirit in an attempt to mold these various terms into a more unified category.

If we look more closely at the core messages in the various spiritual books, new age books, metaphysical, esoteric, parapsychology, philosophy and even self improvement books, we often find similarities that are sometimes veiled in different terms that could all be better described as Mind Body Spirit. Yes, even philosophy books, which are essentially the belief or system of beliefs accepted as an authoritative account by a group or philosophy school, have similarities to each other and also to the more recent spiritual new age parapsychology and metaphysical esoteric books. The various philosophy books available today, which are scriptures handed down over many centuries that are the core beliefs of the world’s many religions, also have strong similarities in the original message, although the interpretation of these books over the ages has led to contrasting viewpoints.

Considering the strife that such opposing views of philosophy books over the ages has caused, perhaps this new age of parapsychology, with its metaphysical, esoteric and spiritual messages and books will help break down these old belief systems that have divided humanity for so long, particularly when unified under the more acceptable catch-phrase of Mind Body Spirit. The proliferation of self improvement books alone has brought a spiritual awareness to thousands, if not millions, who seek to grow through better knowing themselves. Old philosophy books are being rewritten in more spiritual new age terminology and marketed under various terms, not only new age and spiritual, but also metaphysical books, esoteric books, new age parapsychology, inspirational books, self improvement and even philosophy books. An increasing number of these books are being grouped, on websites and also in physical bookstores, under the Mind Body Spirit label.

The overriding influence of these books is inspirational, encouraging readers to delve deeper into themselves to discover their true spiritual nature and it is encouraging to see so many spiritual new age parapsychology (Mind Body Spirit) books coming out in increasing numbers each year.

Two such books are listed on www.1-inspirational-quote-book.com although many readers place them into various categories. They are a mixture of metaphysical, spiritual, esoteric and self improvement books, even though they are based in a sci-fi theme. Above all, they are inspirational, told from the viewpoint of an extra-terrestrial race of Beings who are concerned about the direction we are taking. Regardless of the various viewpoints, they will easily fall into the more generalized Mind Body Spirit category and, overall, the feedback from readers has been fantastic, many of them describing the books as ‘inspirational and thought provoking’. As one reader wrote ‘The story slowly engulfed me, drew me in until I was on my own journey. It opened my mind, enticing me to read more. I ask, is this just a novel or a key to our future…?’