There are all sorts of people in this world, and there are also all sorts of balls. If you could describe yourself as a ball, what type of ball would you be? Wrecking ball to table tennis ball.
I have vague memories of the first ball I ever had. I think it was called a Super Ball. It was made of solid rubber and if you threw it on a hard surface, it would bounce back very fast. This ball knew how to bounce!
Then other balls were discovered. Beach balls, large, round, light and could be patted between friends on a hot summer’s day at the beach.
Cricket balls, rugby balls, bowling balls. All round, but very different.
One of the key differences was contained under the skin, under the exterior surface. Some balls have a dense inner mass, while other balls have air and you have to inflate them for them to have shape.
I was talking with someone recently and the picture came into my mind of them being much like a table tennis ball.
Small, vulnerable to being crushed, hit from one person to another, able to be spun and hit hard, and easily lost under the furniture. If there was an ever so slight gust of wind, then that little ball would float away.
They were living with someone we decided that was more like a wrecking ball. One of those huge solid balls attached via a long chain to the top of a crane. With a swing of the crane, this massive ball would come speeding down against a building and demolish it. Little hope for a table tennis ball unless it could quickly dodge the incoming violence. Little things can do that.
I suppose we could put these two balls on a line.
On one end is the wrecking ball. On the other end is the table tennis ball.
Ive met many people that are like wrecking balls. They come in strong and hard, full of weight and presence. They don’t care a great deal about other people. It’s get out of the way I’m coming through.
I wonder about their core. What is on the inside?
Why have they decided that to make life work they have to be so in control and so determined?
Maybe to protect themselves, they have built a hardness that deflects anyone wanting to know their inner world. Instead, they crush and roll right over anyone that might want to come near.
Then there are those that are like table tennis balls.
They have a thin shell and are easily crushed.
There seems to be nothing inside to hold the ball in shape. They get used, abused, and taken for granted.
There is a beauty and purpose to their perfect roundness, but that surface has seen many beatings and little skid marks are seen on the surface.
I wonder at what has gone on in them that has left them so light, empty and vulnerable.
What sort of ball are you?
If there were other balls on this line such as soccer balls, billiard balls, baseballs, where would you like to be?
I think I would like to be a billiard ball.
Small, shiny, solid core, able to bounce off the walls of the edges of the table and to impact others (in a good way). There is a weightiness and a purpose. An inner strength and focus.
Many of the people that come to this website have been crushed by the wrecking balls of life.
They feel like crushed table tennis balls with little value or purpose. They may look fine on the outside, but ask a few gentle questions, and there, under the surface, it’s empty.
Wrecking ball to table tennis ball. Where are you on this line?
Rebuilding the core
Good soul work happens from the inside out.
Its filling the inner life with truth. Discovering the core beauty inside you. It’s finding your divine purpose and empowering its focus.
It’s moving one from being a vulnerable table tennis ball to being someone with inner resilience and strength. Someone that knows how to bounce and bring delight. Someone who can be free to share their multicoloured life with others.
It’s acknowledging the overbearing destructive weightiness of a wrecking ball that has destroyed relationships and asking, why do you always do that?
Why is ‘Your way’ the ‘only way’?
You don’t need to be so hard to find genuine life. There is a place for being light and free. To dance and not destroy. It’s ok to be a little vulnerable and open to others.
All of this takes time, a lifetime of time.
There is no ‘signup for building your inner ball’ course here, but if you want a conversation, then let me know.
Keep reading, asking questions and being vulnerable.
Quotes to consider
- As we try to understand the process of change, we must realize that deep change comes about less because of what we try to do and how hard we try to do it and more because of our willingness to face the realities of our own internal life. Larry Crabb Inside Out
- Beneath what our culture calls psychological disorder is a soul crying out for what only community can provide. There is no “disorder” requiring “treatment.” And, contrary to hard-line moralism, there is more to our struggles than a stubborn will needing firm admonishment. Beneath all our problems, there are desperately hurting souls that must find the nourishment only community can provide—or die. Larry Crabb. Connecting
- Opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, dreams… that is being naked. Rob Bell
- No one person can fulfill all your needs. But the community can truly hold you. The community can let you experience the fact that, beyond your anguish, there are human hands that hold you and show you God’s faithful love. Henri Nouwen
Questions to answer
- What sort of ball are you?
- What sort of ball would others describe you as?
- What sort of balls have impacted your life and how did they shape your inner world?
Formation exercise
- Write a list of all the types of balls you can think of. Describe their strengths and their weaknesses. Which ball describes you the most and why? Where would you like to be?
Further reading
Barry Pearman
