It ain't over til it's over!

The Dodgers have laid off the fat lady.
For the second consecutive game, Andre Ethier delivered a walk-off win for the Dodgers, who now have 12 victories this season in their final at-bat. Ethier's 12th-inning homer was made possible by Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning.
In the immortal words of Yoga Berra, "It ain't over til it's over." (Yes, Lenny Kravitz said it too.) And for the Dodgers, lately, it doesn't even start til it's almost over!
(Most important lesson class: Never never never leave a game early!)

After doing my dance of JOY for the second day in a row, I sat down and started thinking. And, like I always do, I saw another beautiful correlation between life and baseball...specifically, the importance of playing all nine innings....and often, a whole lot more.
You cannot give up.
The quote on my blog is from Louis L'Amour. I saw it for the first time on the wall of a used book store in Victoria, British Columbia several years ago:

"There will come a time when you think
everything is finished.
That will be the beginning."

The last two days, it looked as though it was finished for the Dodgers early in both games. But the beginning (or big INNING) was not til the bottom of the NINTH last night. Today it was the bottom of the TWELFTH. Even when it looked hopeless...they kept on playing...they knew it wasn't over. The Dodgers don't leave the game early. They stay in the game and play hard...they do not give up.
It's really the same for you and me in this great game called life; we can not give up! We can never never never give up! Even when it looks hopeless, even when it seems like it might be over...we have to keep going. We have to stay in the game and fight hard to win! When one door closes, we either find an open window--or we break down the damn door! Who knows what great things are up ahead?!
We have to keep playing, and playing HARD and playing WELL...all nine innings.
Sometimes twelve. Sometimes more.
Never give up.
It ain't over. In fact, this might just be the beginning.
And, for the love of God, don't leave the game early.