According to Google Chrome, “In baseball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. … The point of the curveball is to create … an element of deception.”

“In slang, if someone throws you a curveball, they surprise you by doing something that you do not expect.”

Today I went to a workshop given by my chiropractor, where he started out his presentation by saying, “I was given several curveballs this week. The completion of the remodeling of my office had to be pushed out by two days due to the electrical wiring didn’t meet code, and the speaker I scheduled couldn’t be here due to a sudden death in his family.”

This got me thinking about how we handle the curveballs in our lives.

Do we curse the ball when we miss the pitch?

Do we stand by and watch in horror as the ball flies by us?

Or, do we act fast and take a swing at the ball?

Every day we are bombarded with curveballs. Someone says something we didn’t expect; the temperature plunges 30 degrees in an hour; a dear friend calls out of the blue to chat causing you to readjust your schedule; or—you attend a party and the only protein available is meat, and you eat plant-based foods! What do you do? How do you cope with your unexpected(s) in life?

I’ve found that the best way to handle a curveball is to swing away. Stewing, worrying, getting frustrated or angry doesn’t serve me. I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes when hearing unexpected words from another person. I always listen to the weather report before taking my pup outdoors. Schedules are good to keep in mind; however, a friendship is more important in the bigger picture. And, (some vegans may not agree with this) when I attend a gathering that serves animal protein, I never make a scene or say, “I can’t eat this,” I eat the meal presented to me; for the world or my diet won’t end, and I’m blessed with the gift of a nutritious meal.

As long as we are alive, we can expect the unexpected. We can’t stop the curveballs from coming; however, we do have a choice in how we handle our emotions when they come our way. So, the next time you feel that there are too many curveballs during your at-bat, I challenge you to reassess where the balls are coming from, see if you can find a way to readjust so you can hit them, breathe, enjoy the moment, and go with the flow. In doing this, you will change the way you see and you’ll change the way you live.