In Golf, and in Life*:
As long as we keep swinging, we keep advancing.
Each day is like starting a brand new game at even par.
Even if yesterday was outstanding, today could be terrible.
A lapse in attention can make things go from bad to worse in a heartbeat.
Even though yesterday brought disaster, glory could be just around the corner.
No matter how bad the hole was that we just played, the next one can be better.
No matter how good you played the last hole, the next one can be horrendous.
Each new game we play can be similar, yet very different from the last.
Each day gives us an opportunity to take a new swing at the ball.
Focus and attention are paramount to get a good score.
If we don’t swing at the ball, we will never hit it.
When you hit a nice shot, it always feels great.
If we don’t look for a lost ball, we will not find it.
We don’t always find lost balls even if we look hard.
It’s easier to tell others what to do, than to do it ourselves.
Watching it on television isn’t the same as doing it in person.
After the most terrible shot can a come a wonderful one, and vice-versa.
One can be changed by a matter of inches, the other in a matter of minutes.
We need to take it one stroke at a time and trust that the map we have of the terrain is accurate.
When we take our eye off the ball it’s easy to lose it. Sometimes we find it, sometimes we never do.
Finding a lost ball is a lot like trying to find a lost purpose, sometimes it takes a lot of time and energy.
Noise and commotion around us can negatively affect our performance even when we try to block it out.
Lifting our gaze to our objective too soon can cause us to create a huge divot and muff forward only a few inches.
Standing up on the tee box generally gives us a good view of what we need to accomplish, but we can’t always see every single objective from the get go.
Some days we are able to get through with relatively few strokes, while on others we need to take the maximum allowable, or at times just pick up our ball and go home, wondering if we will ever go out again.
If we don’t go out to the course, we don’t score.
∞ Rob McBride ∞
15 Sep 2022
- Dedicated to my dear Daddy who loved to play all games.