Make It A Good One

As all of you know by now, the house we bought borders on a golf course. Some people think we planned that. Or should I say I planned that. We didn’t. It just happened that way. As part of the move I also closed my Brandon office. We decided that I would work out of our home for the time being. We developed the office on the main floor. Now when I look out my office door I can see through our living room windows and see the golf course. Needless to say it is a distraction. As an avid, some might say addicted, golfer that is only natural. So it does happen that I will occasionally sneak out for a game. At this time of the year the course is usually empty so it can happen quickly. At, least that is how I justify it.

Of course, as soon as I start playing guilt hits. For some strange reason that is when I remember what I needed to do. Just as strange, that is when the cell phone starts ringing. Why? It didn’t ring all morning. I know you are asking, why do I have it with me? Assuage the guilt? Can’t bear the thought of being “out of touch”? So it does not take long and I can’t even concentrate on the golf. As many of you know, if you can’t concentrate, your game will go downhill real fast. Then it is no longer fun. The score suffers, you get frustrated and the more frustrated you feel the more guilty you feel. What a vicious circle. Slowly, but surely the sun does not feel quite as warm. The breeze a little cooler. Your legs a little more tired. You feel like quitting. But you’re so far from home you can’t just quit. Never mind that there is no easy way to get there. There is bush. There is a river. There are other homes. It becomes a dilemma. So I hurry through the holes. Take short cuts. And when I get back home I don’t really feel that great about my game.

How often do we treat life the same way? Too often, I say. We get caught up in the busyness. We don’t take the time to enjoy. Always feeling guilty that we should be working. We should be doing more. Always concerned we might be missing something. Guess what? Many of us are missing out on life. I saw a quote recently that went like this. “When you walk down the fairway of life, you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round”. (Ben Hogan, world renowned golfer said those words.) How true. We only do play one round.

My golfing buddy, the one recovering from surgery, seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to my golfing. He seems to know when I sneak out there to “hit a few”. I tell him about my game via text messaging. When I complained about a few shots last week he texted me and challenged me to enjoy each shot, even the bad ones. I knew he would give anything to be out there. His words resonated with me. And as I thought about that, thought about life, thought about Ben Hogan’s quote, I realized that I needed to slow down and enjoy. Not only my golf game but life as well. Sometimes, in life, we do hit bad shots. But, like golf, we also hit some good ones. And the good ones are the ones that keep us going. Get us looking forward to the next shot, the next day, the next challenge. And here is hoping that I get to play all eighteen holes. Make it a good one.