Reach for a Little Something Extra
I’m fixing to reach back for a little something extra.
We all have to do that in certain situations of life, and I’m not talking about reaching back for an extra piece of fried chicken or one more ham sandwich.
No, what I’m referring to is when we are put into dire situations in which our bodies need to respond accordingly, by performing to the best of our abilities, or by running away as quickly as possible.
I’m referring to having the resolve to call out that extra effort, which is what you do during desperate times, like when it’s fourth down and goal-to-go on the one yard line with your team trailing in the score by one point and the clock is ticking down to the last play of the game.
Or, maybe it’s your turn at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the pitcher has a full count on you and the bases are loaded. The score is tied but the bases are loaded and you need to reach back for that little something extra.
Some might ask why not reach back for a little something extra on every down or every pitch? But if we did that there wouldn’t be anything extra left when we really, really needed it.
It doesn’t only have to be a deciding moment in sports when you need this little something extra. It could be in any dangerous or very tense situation during which your performance depends on whether you escape unscathed. It could also be a situation in which only something extra mentally is needed, like when you need to talk yourself out of an incriminating or compromising situation.
By now the reader has more than likely guessed that what we are talking about is an adrenaline rush—those times when we get an extremely intense feeling that increases our energy regenerating rate along with our speed and strength significantly, which lasts approximately 15 seconds and enables us to do something extraordinary.
You know this has happened when you have lifted or moved an object, or said or did something far beyond your normal capabilities. It’s when you do it without feeling any pain with an enhanced heightening of your senses.
It’s that sudden burst of energy that happens when the body releases large amounts of glucose and sugar into your blood stream while your breathing increases and your heart rate and blood pressure jump.
So we know that adrenaline rushes are not for the weak of heart. I’ve attempted to avoid them since the first one I ever got.
It wasn’t on the football or baseball field, it wasn’t in a situation where I was being robbed or beaten, and it wasn’t a time when I had to lift a burning vehicle off the victim or talk my way out of a speeding ticket.
No, it was an occasion when it was necessary to run away as quickly as possible.
It was a time long ago when my Cousin Elroy and I were sitting in the middle of someone else’s watermelon patch at midnight using our hands to scoop the hearts out of ripe melons we had burst.
It was when we heard the sound of the cocking of a shotgun and saw the beam of a flashlight approaching our position that I got an extreme feeling of energy, when my breathing increased and my heartbeat escalated that I knew that Elroy and I had to reach back for a little something extra, and we both knew it wasn’t fixing to be another bite of watermelon!