Several years ago when I was editor of the newspaper in Langdon, there was a point in which I was getting quite stressed about the complexity of my job and how it related to Cavalier County.

It was April, it was a Monday and it was a beautiful, but cold day in northeast North Dakota. There was a baseball game in Munich that afternoon, so not having assigned anyone to cover the game, I decided to go myself to get out of the office and perhaps clear my head.

Current director of the North Dakota High School Activities Association Matt Fetsch was the starting pitcher for Munich that day. Although I don’t remember who the opponent was, I do recall taking numerous photos of Matt throughout the game in an attempt to get the baseball between his hand and the catcher’s mitt.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the game and very quickly became relaxed as if I drove 20 miles west of Langdon and was in a completely different world… safe, laid back and friendly.

It was a sanctuary from the daily grind of being a newspaper editor. Even though it was only about two hours, it certainly helped me get my focus back to where it needed to be, on the staff, on the budget, on the community and getting the next newspaper off to the press.

That was really an eye opener for me. I was a young editor without a lot of leadership experience at the time, so things weren’t going well at that moment, and of course the company that owned the newspaper wanted more profit with less expenditure.

Rewind to 1970 to Hazelton’s baseball diamond. That was the first year I played baseball and although I didn’t realize it until I was sitting in the stands that Monday afternoon in Munich, those several years I played on that diamond in Hazelton, was the best thing that could have happened to me to route my future.

That was the sanctuary of the baseball diamond. And maybe that’s why I still love baseball to this day. I played 11 years between Babe Ruth in Hazelton, amateur ball in Edgeley and college ball at Bismarck State, and was never on a winning team.

But I loved every minute of it because whatever was going on outside of that diamond, it didn’t matter. There were deaths in the family, financial troubles, girlfriend issues, disagreements with friends, issues in the National Guard and even poor grades in school.

It didn’t matter!

Whenever I was on the diamond, all those troubles disappeared, at least as long as the baseball game was in session whether we won or lost. It felt really good to be out there. And if the coach put me on the bench for any reason, I tried to be the team cheerleader to help the confidence of the team, and yes, the guy who replaced me in the game.

Living in northeast North Dakota, high school baseball could only be played for about two months and summer ball for about three months. What could I do as a stress reliever when baseball wasn’t happening?

That day in Munich was definitely a turning point for me because I was so out of sorts at that time, I was ready to throw in the towel. But that would have meant quitting and there had to be an alternative.

Later that fall, a similar situation happened and by this time it included marital issues. I just had to get out of the office for a while. I certainly did that. I drove up to Winnipeg, got on the Trans Canada Highway and before I knew it, I was in Dryden, Ontario and my focus was back.

Sometime later, I was covering a story in the Pembina Gorge about dinosaurs and had a very similar feeling that I had in Munich. From that day forward, depending on the season that included the depth of winter, it was either the baseball diamond or hiking through the bush in the Pembina Gorge.

We’re all human. We’re all capable of making mistakes and when we do, we become stressed out. I hope everyone has an outlet similar to what I just described. If not, if you can find what that outlet is, you’ll be a better person with your family, your profession, your budget or even your health itself.

Now that I’m retired, I think back to the importance of that Monday in Munich. It was a moment in time that made me a better editor, a better leader and a better person.