Baseball is a game of failure. To be successful, a baseball player must face failure most of the time he's at the plate. In the MLB if you get a hit 3/10 times at the plate, you're an all-star and one of the best hitters in the game. Knowing this, what defines a baseball player is how he reacts to the other 7/10 times. Is he willing to stick to it and keep working hard, or will he roll over and define himself by his mistakes? While on defense, physical errors happen even to the best players. After making an error, the toughest players have the mentality that they're going to make the next play, and they still want the ball hit to them. They don't let an error that happened in the 1st inning effect their play in the 9th inning, or even in the 2nd inning. One of the best things about baseball is that a team can play one of their worst games as a team, but can rebound and play their best game the very next day. This depends on the mental toughness of each individual player.
In a certain sense, we can say that life itself is a game of failure. We set high expectations for ourselves in various aspects of life. It can be weight loss goals, overcoming an addiction, dealing with a divorce or death of a loved one, trying to apply a gospel principle that we have a harder time with, or feeling like we aren't good enough. Even though we are trying our best to be like Christ, we come up short with our sins and shortcomings. I encourage you to read or reread the talk "Be ye therefore perfect, eventually" by Elder Jeffery R. Holland. Here is the url:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/be-ye-therefore-perfect-eventually?lang=eng
In the Book of Mormon, the first story we read about is about Lehi and his family as they're commanded to leave their home and wealth in Jerusalem and depart to the wilderness. Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi are all obedient and follow their parents into the wilderness. When we typically think of Laman and Lemuel as rebellious, murmuring sons, they are actually obedient to their father. They could have stayed in Jerusalem and inherited the great wealth and home that was left behind, but they went with their family. The difference between them and their other brothers was their attitude as they were following their father/prophet. They couldn't understand why they were leaving, and not even seeing an angel could open their hard hearts. Nephi and Sam were experiencing the same trials, but they were always looking for ways to learn from God and seek His miracles. We are in a similar situation here in the Latter-Days where God's commandments may conflict with our personal views, or we may not see the importance of following a certain commandment, but it is important that we show faith to God and faith in His path. Nephi was able to bring miracles to his family, (building a ship in the way of the Lord and not of man, eating raw meat that was miraculously blessed with taste and made healthy, seeing the same visions as his father Lehi, retrieving the brass plates from King Laban, etc) and this was because he was always looking to the Lord. Laman and Lemuel did not learn these same lessons because they chose not to turn to the Lord, but instead lean on their own understanding.
President Henry B. Eyring once said, "if you are on the right path, it will always be uphill." While we are on this gospel path, we will experience hardships and trials. Instead of feeling that we are weak or that we aren't good enough, let's remember that God loves us more than we can imagine. Sometimes, we must realize that the consequences that we are experience are a result of personal sin, and some come as a result of personal sins of others, and some come because God is teaching us an eternal principle. When we show that we can endure trials, God will give us more so that we can learn more. Doctrine and Covenants 130:19 says, "And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."
Pictures from lds.org
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