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Springtime,
the beginning of a new golf season; ask yourself what would
it take for you to have the best season of your life? A better
swing, lower scores, or longer drives? If you did all those
things, next winter would you look back and say "wow I had
a great year," or would you say "I would have had a great
year if?"
It's rather
amusing how we golfers are never satisfied with our games.
No matter how well we play or what we achieve, it could always
be better. We can have a career round and still complain of
a bad shot or missed putt. The result is we never truly experience
a prolonged state of joy on the course because we always think
there is something more. And so we relegate our happiness
to some distant future when we think all will be perfect.
Guess what? Your future is here right now and there is no
perfection. Somebody once said "life is what happens when
we are busy making other plans." Are you so busy planning
on being better in the future that you're not allowing yourself
to have fun now?
As you
start a new golf season, why not make up your mind to have
the best round of your life every time you tee it up? That's
what I said, the best round of your life every single time
you play. This is not an impossible task and it does not involve
shooting your lowest score or hitting perfect shots. It does
call for remembering all the reasons you love the game and
giving yourself permission to enjoy those reasons regardless
of that slice or missed 3 footer. I'll let you in on a little
secret: nobody ever died from missing a putt or dumping it
in the water. So keep it in perspective, golf is a game, not
a life threatening experience!
Here are
some suggestions that might help. About your golf swing: instead
of agonizing over it, why not delight in the complexity of
that swing? It is not your enemy but a friend that needs constant
love and attention. Nurture little pieces of it as you go
along. Don't abuse it by constantly screaming at it, or paralyze
it by doing too many things at one time. And instead of complaining
about how difficult and frustrating golf is, consider this:
golf is really a very simple game. Hit the ball - go find
it, hit it again until you get it in the hole. That's all
there is to it. Just treat every hole like a new adventure,
a mystery present that you unwrap as the hole unfolds. Sometimes
you find treasure, others; you get the booby prize.
Most important,
give yourself a break. Golf is just a process of exploration
and change. Like life, the journey is far more important than
the destination. Do the best you can and realize that some
days your best effort produces your lowest scores. Others
are spent chanting "that's the maximum I can take on this
hole." Put your heart and soul into making a triple bogey
as much as you do in making a birdie. When a friend tells
me they are having a rotten day I say, "well make it the best
rotten day of your life!" So go on, laugh about it, you might
as well have fun in the process!
As this
new season begins, decide to totally immerse yourself in experiencing
all the things you love about the game, the good, the bad,
and the ugly. You never know, next winter you might look back
and hear yourself say, "Wow, I just had the best season of
my life!" Good luck, you can do it. Now go play and have fun.
©
Melissa Whitmire and Triad Golf Today - March/April 1998
Other
Articles by Melissa Whitmire
How
To Get What You Want For Your Game
Self-Fulfilling
Prophecies
If
you enjoyed these articles and would like to read more, The
Collection of Golf Articles by Melissa Whitmire
is available for sale.
Learn
about Happiness in Golf and
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for you!
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