Life Lessons

I have been watching the British Open. Oops. Pardon me. It is The Open. Things change. It still is the same tournament held every year over in Great Britain. Completely different golf courses than we are used too. Called links golf. It has been rather interesting. Players appear to be befuddled. The course is playing difficult.

For those of you who don’t know, links golf courses differ from most of the courses in North America. They are basically situated on wide open fields. No trees. Lots of bunkers. Difficult to distinguish where fairways end and greens begin. Can play difficult because balls have the tendency to roll. Go to places that no one wants to experience.

During play on the second day I found myself chuckling, noticing the reactions of players when their plan did not work out. Who am I to chuckle? I found myself in the same debacle last night. Nothing seemed to work out. Good thing there was not a lot of money riding on my game.
As I watched this afternoon I found myself comparing life to what I was witnessing on TV. Players were getting very frustrated. The commentator made the comment that players needed to be patient. Just like in real life. Often times we face un-certain circumstances. I know I do. Then we get impatient. We want the misery to end. We make decisions that are not always in our interests. We need to practice patience. One step at a time.

I saw players congratulate each other when a shot was made, a putt sunk. Not because it was spectacular. Rather because the course was playing so difficult that when a player did make a shot others were happy for them. We should do that more in our lives. Why is our natural response to withdraw? Why do we actually, at least sometimes, feel happy when others fail? To make us look better? We should be more supportive of others. It sure feels good when we have a support system cheering us on. The key is that very seldom are we on our own.

I saw some players lift their hands in defeat. Asking, what can we do? They were ready to give in. The course was throwing all kinds of surprises at them. They had a difficult time figuring it out. They were getting tired. It was debilitating for them. Again, just like life. We try so hard. We try to adjust to the environment we are in. We change our ways. Far too often, all for naught. We throw up our hands. We ask why.

This morning as I was watching the final round the leader, and I kind of hope he wins, made what the commentator claimed was a horrific error. Perhaps that was overstating it just a bit. However he also suggested that after a shot like that there was a rush of blood to the face. Hey, I can relate. I remember that. Certain phone calls, especially from creditors, certain events, certain decisions. All can send us reeling. How we respond to those situations becomes integral.

What is my point to all of this? I have no idea. I enjoy watching golf. Challenging tournaments like The Open add to the excitement. Perhaps I like watching multi-zillionaires like Tiger fail. Whatever the case there are life lessons to be learned from most anything and everything we do. It is a matter of taking the time to think. To relate. And to learn. Just as an after thought, a lefty won. I think all left handers are cheering today. I know at least two who are. Make it a good one.