Dear Keith Waldman, I am currently in a leadership class and we watched a video in class about lollipop moments. Lollipop moments are moments in which a person influences and changes your life. To me you gave me that lollipop moment. I met you for the first time when I was seven years old at softball camp where my pitching group had 45 minutes with you. You introduced yourself by starting off with a brain game. Then you taught us two lessons that I would never forget. You asked one of the players to stand and you asked her to put her hands out and asked to try to push your hands up. The first time she did it you asked her to say negative comments about herself. She couldn’t lift up her arms. The second time she tried it you asked her to say positive affirmations about herself and then she pushed your hands to the sky. In that lesson you taught me the law of attraction that I now live by. Positive attitudes create positive outcomes. This lesson has inspired me both on and off the softball field. This is not the only thing that you have taught me. I learned “Failure is Fertilizer”. In life I’ve had some rough patches, times where I was in a hitting slump, times where I could not throw a fastball for a strike, times where I thought about quitting softball because of constant failure. But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t because I know what you taught me when I was a little girl, that failure is the fertilizer that helps you grow, and without failure you wouldn’t grow at all. I have played softball for my high school team, club team, college team, and for Team Peru because of you. You changed my life when I was seven years old in 45 minutes. I am so grateful for that change because without your lessons I wouldn’t be who I am today. Thank you!
NCAA College/Team Peru Softball Player
