“Drugs are very much a part of professional sports today, but when you think about it, golf is the only sport where the players aren’t penalized for being on grass.”
Today I did something I haven’t done in a very long time – I went to the driving range with a friend of mine.
The last time I found myself holding a bucket of golf balls was back in high school – when a group of us found Friday night enjoyment trying to hit the little man driving the tractor that cleaned up all the balls at a nearby driving range.
But this time was different. For starters I’m 20- something year’s older and wiser. I hoped my age and maturity would help alleviate the pressures I often put on myself for success at something right out of the gate. Plus the little man wasn’t out collecting balls that afternoon so the temptation wasn’t there.
My cohort for the day, a fairly experienced golfer in his own right, was patiently teaching me the techniques he had learned to be a better golfer. Did I mention he was patient.
Yes, as I stated above, I am older and wiser in many ways. But when it comes to being critical of myself, I haven’t learned much.
I naively believed that a few strokes in, I’d have picked up on this whole golfing business – at least enough to effectively drive a bucket of balls. But as I quickly learned, it’s not nearly as easy as it looks on television.
For some, organized sports come easy – I’m not one of those people.
But I did manage to walk away with two invaluable lessons that day:
One – Success is not achieved in a single, momentary instance.
While we’d all like to think there’s little effort required to find ourselves where we want to be in life (personally or professionally) everything worth anything requires persistence.
For as Thomas Edison once remarked, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Two – Enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
Yes, I missed actually making contact with the ball on several occasions. Yes, my ball didn’t always go straight or make it very far passed the tee. But I’ll be honest…I had a blast trying!
While I was frustrated every so often, overall I was enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the company (who thankfully was a very, VERY patient teacher). And whenever we do go back again, I’ll remember what worked and what didn’t and to just loosen up and enjoy myself.
For as Greg Anderson once remarked, “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
