And as it turns out, if one person is praying for you, buckle up. Things can happen.

Little by little, in telling Sam all these details, I got to see the bigger point of baseball, that it can give us back ourselves. We’re a crowd animal, a highly gregarious, communicative species, but the culture and the age and all the fear that fills our days have put almost everyone into little boxes, each of us all alone. But baseball, if we love it, gives us back our place in the crowd. It restores us.

Gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity.

Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.

[S]he believed that the Buddhists were right–that if you want, you will suffer; if you love, you will grieve. (68)

One thing I know for sure about raising children is that every single day a kid needs discipline.... But also every single day a kid needs a break.

Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.