Real Life Tao - Roller Coaster Ride

Trey Smith

In several eastern religions and philosophies -- Buddhism, Taoism and Zen -- much is made about keeping to the middle of the road. When we live a life that tends toward the edges (the extremes), it becomes that much easier to stray from our path and, often, to become completely lost. Once lost, many never find the path of contentment, success or happiness.

While we may endeavor to keep to the middle of the road, life has a way of knocking us to one side or the other. Sometimes it's due to great fortune and sometimes it's due to unspeakable calamity. No matter how sagacious a person might be, life itself is a roller coaster. For all the ups, there are many downs.

For me, this helps to explain WHY the Taoist sages put so much emphasis on making the effort to aim for the middle. It is the person who lives a life of balance and harmony that can better recover from the dips and curves life throws at each of us. The person who lives life on the edge only needs a slight nudge to go careening off the road.

I was reminded of this lesson when reading a recent news story about Major League Baseball umpire Jim Joyce. Two years ago, he blew a call that cost Armando Galarraga a place in baseball history. Galarraga was one out away from pitching a perfect game, something accomplished less than 25 times in the 100+ year history of major league baseball.

With two outs in the last inning, Joyce, who was the first base umpire, called the 27th batter safe. Replays show the batter was clearly out. After seeing the replays, Joyce admitted he had made the wrong call and met with Galarraga to apologize profusely.

Not surprisingly, many baseball fans were outraged and Joyce received several death threats. The blown call tarnished his otherwise outstanding career as an umpire. Joyce admits it was a real low time in his life. Yet, despite the controversy, Joyce kept his head about him. He refused to allow this one mistake to define his life.

One person -- Jayne Powers -- is oh so glad that Joyce continues to work as a major league umpire. Why? Because Jim Joyce's quick thinking saved her life!

You never know when the big moments will arrive, and so it was that veteran umpire Jim Joyce made his biggest call of the season ... roughly 90 minutes before the Marlins-Diamondbacks game started in Arizona on Monday night?

Joyce administered CPR to a Diamondbacks' game-day employee named Jayne Powers in a tunnel leading to the umpires' dressing room minutes on his way into the ballpark Monday, saving her life in a moment nobody who was in the vicinity at Chase Field will soon forget.

Talk about making the right call in a split-second.

"It was non-normal," Joyce told CBSSports.com Tuesday afternoon. "I don't know what word to put on it.

"It's obviously never happened to me before."

"We're thrilled that she's doing well today," Russ Amaral, vice-president for Chase Field operations and facilities management, said. "And we're grateful to those who were there to help."

Powers, a beloved, original employee dating back to the franchise's inception, has worked in concessions for the Diamondbacks since March 1, 1998. She remains in the hospital and hopes to be released by week's end, according to the Diamondbacks.

Joyce, 56, and the other umpires in his crew -- Lance Barrett, Jim Reynolds and James Hoye -- had just arrived at Chase Field and were headed to their dressing room when they saw a woman down in the midst of having a seizure. Noting that, Joyce, who learned CPR when he was in high school, made sure that the woman's head was protected. But shortly afterward, her body relaxed and Joyce knew something was wrong.

"I've had to use CPR before," Joyce said, though not in many years. "This is something everybody should know. Everybody should know what to do in a circumstance like that.

"It's not a hard thing. You don't need a degree. It's very simple, and very easy."

Paramedics arrived while Joyce was administering CPR, but even after an initial shock from a defibrillator, Powers did not come out of it. So Joyce continued administering CPR while the paramedics did another round with the defibrillator.

Finally, Powers began breathing again.

Had Joyce allowed his glaring mistake to knock him off his path, he wouldn't have been there to save Powers. He wouldn't be a hero today.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.