“The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering.”

Baseball seasons are full of drama, and I’m not referring to the competition or the crazy 8th and 9th innings of the Braves and Phillies game on Monday night. Although, that was a dandy of a game!!

Slumps, losing streaks, injuries and contract disputes are part of every player’s, team’s and fan’s story.

But there is more. Personal tragedies, sicknesses and accidents shatter the fun that we expect from a game. I don’t like it, but that is the way life is too.

I hate to admit it, but I have spent most of my life enjoying the drama of the game but I have feared the emotional pain that comes from life’s traumas. Many time’s, I hurry on with life, thinking I am moving forward when I really am missing, or denying, what was going on in my soul.

Suffering, aka experiencing the emotional pain, is not fatal. It grows the soul.