It’s the sixth hole at my local public course golf course that I struggle with. To be more precise, it’s a hole that I just can’t master as I never seem to get the yardage right. I draw a four iron every time. It’s a 207 yard par three that sits in a bit of a gully. With no wind, as if that’s possible, it probably plays no more than 200-205 yards. Therefore, it’s a little downhill. The big problem for me is judging the wind. Even with a four iron, my ball flight is high enough that the ball is going to reach the top of the gully and be pulled in the direction of the oncoming wind. Therefore, even though the flag isn’t moving that doesn’t mean the wind isn’t going to play a crucial factor. Most of the time I come up short.
For many people this is an easy fix… grab a damn three iron and move on with your life. I can’t seem to do that. Every time I step up to the tee box, I grab a four iron. I can’t help myself. Ultimately, I need to learn to become a better golfer and person. This particular hole is trying to teach me a life lesson in humility that I need to adhere to. It’s a good life lesson and something that I think about often, especially in these last couple of weeks, where I have strayed far from humility and have even become quite obtuse.
So how do I make sure that in life I grab a three iron and not come up short in the endeavors of which I pursue or come up short adhering to kindness with others in my day-to-day routine? Let’s first examine just what exactly is going on in my life so that we’re on the same page. To put it bluntly, I’m having immense trouble as I struggle to communicate with members of my immediate family on almost every level. They’re really frustrating me and I’m letting it show. There’s a two-fold thing going on with my frustration here. First off, it’s boiling over to the point where it’s affected my actions. Second off, I’m acting off of deep seeded hatred from the past rather than living in the present. It’s hard to let go of the past in my particular circumstance because I’m cautious about where that might lead. They say history repeats itself. I truly am wary of that fact and of what my family is capable of doing to me. Therefore, I often revert back to it when I’m scared of it all being forgotten. However, I need to do a better job of not dwelling on old issues. Let bygones be bygones… so to speak.
More important than what you do in life, how much money you make, or how powerful you may become, lies the paramount importance of just how you treat others along the way. Every encounter you have with an individual during the course of the day should be perceived amicably by all parties… especially for the person it is who you are specifically dealing with. This doesn’t mean the outcome of all encounters needs to be perceived amicably; it just means that you stay friendly with others as a general rule of thumb. This includes phone conversations with tech support and cable companies. I noticed this past two weeks that I have failed doing that with members of my family, and it haunts me. I know I need to be a better person.
So just how do I grab the three iron in life instead of pressing with the four iron knowing it hasn’t worked in the past and won’t work now? The clever golfer might say, ‘develop your draw’, but in life there are no draws. How do I create a win-win with everybody that loves me so much? Maybe venting my frustration is the only answer. But I’m starting to harp on that anger and frustration. The only answer that I have is simple… the only thing any of us can do when we have a bunch of steam to let go of… play more golf!! Thank God summer is here!!