I hate golf.
That is a statement I make about fifteen to twenty times every time I play a round. I hook, I slice, I chip onto the green, putt off it.
I hate golf.
On Saturday, Maggie and I played a round at a course five minutes from where we live. It was a beautiful morning that started well but went downhill quickly. My first drive of the day disappeared into the woods and we never did find the ball.
I hate golf.
I dropped a ball and three shots later finally got onto the green where I three-putted.
I hate golf.
The next drive hooked into the woods on the other side of the green. I dropped a ball and chipped it into the sand trap. Three shots later, I was finally onto the green where I three-putted again.
I hate golf.
This went on for five more holes. I lost six balls, was running at 11 over par and that was if you were counting the par for all eighteen holes. We had only played nine.
I hate golf.
On the tenth hole I whacked the ball off the tee and managed to keep it on the fairway. It landed about 35 yards from the green and about 44 yards from the flag. I pulled my pitching wedge ready to send the ball into the sand but it lofted perfectly, bounced onto the green and rolled into the hole. A birdie!
Maggie stood with her mouth open and finally said, “Nice shot, Bear.”
All I could think was, “I love golf.”
It got me thinking that golf and life have much in common.
I don't want to get all touchy feely (it's not my nature) but it seems to me that like golf, life has its challenges and difficult moments; but like golf, it also has its sweet moments, those moments when just being there is eminently worthwhile.
It could be something major like landing a new job, successfully recovering from a serious illness, getting married or the birth of a baby. It can also be something seemingly small like finding twenty bucks in a pair of slacks you haven’t worn for awhile or having your grandson reaching for your hand and saying, “Grandad, please come” as he leads you across the yard to share with you some discovery he’s just made.
I think we often allow the negative things to overwhelm our blessings. Like golf, we tend to allow the bad shots we’ve made or the sand and water hazards that have been put in our way to become more important than the fact we are there, on a beautiful day, doing something we enjoy with someone we like.
When the nice thing happens, it tends to dispel all that negativity but too quickly the benefit of that moment gets swallowed up in the part of life that is hard, sad or threatening. Perhaps, we should try to reverse that and let the positive things that we also experience and that are part of our lives become more important than the negative.
Perhaps if we focused more on our blessings than on our curses, we might find that for all its challenges and difficult moments, life is pretty good for most of us.
I love life. Whether or not I will still love golf next time out will very much depend on how many balls I whack into the woods. Sometimes, just sometimes mind you, it is very difficult to count your blessings.
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