The Challenge
The Challenge
Greetings Golfers,
I’m writing this from the waiting room at my dentist.
I’m pretty sure that you don’t want to hear about my broken teeth … but there actually is a point to my travels to the dentist.
About a month ago, I chipped a tooth that left a spear in my mouth that was ripping up my tongue. Sleeping wasn’t happening, and just basic interaction was difficult - my tongue was swollen to the size of my fist (slight exaggeration).
But we were crazy busy, and I didn’t have the time to go to the dentist. After 3 days … I had a chance to run over first thing on a Friday morning. As I walked-up … it looked pretty dark … they’re closed on Fridays!
It actually made me laugh. I mean really laugh. People driving through the parking lot couldn’t understand why I was laughing so hard.
Shortly after was my series of car/cart accidents.
And I actually laughed at those.
But then I stopped laughing.
I could feel I was out-of-sync. My rhythm was off … I stopped laughing … and was getting annoyed at everything.
I played golf with some guys, and I was not fun to be with. Yeah … my rhythm was off with my golf game … but I was off before we teed-it-up.
Fortunately, the next night I was talking to my brother about traveling … and different cultures. I talked about while traveling in some countries in Europe, I asked my wife if she’d heard any laughter. She hadn’t. I hadn’t either … that’s why I asked.
Then … it hit me … I was acting like that. That’s why I was off. I was angry. Angry at life.
Let’s go back to my morning showing-up at the dentist. What if instead of laughing … I was angry? Understandable … but is it good for me?
What if because I was angry, I thought that I was justified throwing a rock through their window?
What if a country takes on an attitude that life sucks and laughing is a symbol of enjoying life instead of hating it? And that laughing means that you don’t share their righteous anger.
Am I excusing rude and disrespectful behavior? Not at all. That does make me mad. Because it’s intentional.
The accidents I was in were not intentional. They were accidents. The dentist was closed because they take Friday off. Not to mess with me … it’s what they do.
When I get a bad bounce in golf … do I get mad and let it ruin my round? Or do I laugh at it and decide to make the best of it … to enjoy the challenge.
I think we’ve gotten confused about how to deal with life.
We need to enjoy the challenge … not be angry about it.
And … we need to be angry at the people who decide to do bad stuff. Instead we’ve given them a pass because we’re mad that life isn’t perfect … so they have a license to be bad guys.
People who play golf get pretty good at dealing with bad breaks. Or they quit.
As I always say … golf has the answer. If everyone played golf … think how good they would be at dealing with life!
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com