Part Two: Enjoyment of Life

Why is a game, so passionately followed by so many people, like life?

Why is a game called GOLF and the way we live our LIVES so similar -- Time, knowledge, discipline and goals, control of emotions (fear to ecstasy), integrity, and reality? When we are under 10 years old, we mainly do what we are told. When we become teenagers, we are self absorbed in ourselves and our hormones and absolutely know we have all the answers. If we survive into our twenties, we are caught up in real change, the molding of who we are to become - real thinking actually starts to form. We have enough life experiences to realize we didn't have all the answers and start to ask the right questions. The thirties takes life experiences and financial success to the level where free time can be spent exploring, learning, thinking and expressing ideas that can make a difference. From the 40's on, the understanding of what matters becomes more and more clear. So how is golf similar to this?

The starting point is time. There are no short cuts. If you do not hit thousands of golf balls, you will not become proficient at the game. It takes time to develop most things that are worth while in your life.

Knowledge is critical. With correct knowledge, the journey is easier. If I give you a map of Detroit and ask you to find your way around in Chicago, you can try all you want, but the knowledge is incorrect. You will not find your way around. There are hundreds of perceptions by media crowned authorities (Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, The Golf Channel, etc.). Which ones are reality and which ones are well meaning perceptions? Only by scientific debate can perceptions and reality come closer together. Many current scientific theories by reputable scientists can be shown to be incorrect. The search for the elusive answers to reality always seems to produce more questions? Whenever you make a discovery in your non golf life, you usually end up with more questions than answers. But the search is part of the enjoyment of the journey. Each new discovery just adds fuel to the thirst for the better answer. Edison's famous statement after 10,000 failures at inventing the light bulb, " I now know 10,000 ways not to do it" makes the discovery of how to do it even more enjoyable. The key to knowledge is never to accept anything until you have studied it yourself. Authority figures must be challenged on every issue. Never be a follower. Always be an independent thinker. With knowledge, you are free. As a follower, you are in the control of others.

The average golf score for men and women has been the same for the last one hundred years. Modern technology in golf instruction has not improved it. Hi-Tech equipment has not improved it. Is incorrect knowledge one of the major problems? The answer is YES! The golfing media is teaching centrifugal force and body rotation. Simple observations show this to be incorrect. If you improve, it must be in spite of what you are told, not because of it. Your subconscious just overrides what the conscious hears and performs in the best way it can.

Discipline and goal setting makes any endeavor easier to achieve. The starting point of every business seminar or motivation talk that I have heard is discipline and goals. This is why sports in general are a valuable lesson

In life. Everyone who has ever played a sport and achieved a level of proficiency, knows what it took to get there. There are more one liners for professional sport achievements than in any other area. Golf is by far the most difficult accuracy sport. Many great athletes display a complete loss of self control when playing golf. Golf raises discipline and goals to an ultimate level. With a plan and the desire to reach it, you have a higher chance to realize your potential.

The reason golf is a great game is that during every round, you experience emotions from fear to ecstasy. On poor shots, you feel disgusted, angry, fury, rage, etc. On great shots, you feel ecstasy, joy, happiness, etc. The brain releases a chemical that just makes you feel good -- the achievement of hard work. Control of emotions is directly related to maturity. Everyone has stood over a ball before a swing or a putt and felt the fear of their hands shaking, eyes blurring and palms sweating. In golf, many people fear success as much as they fear failure. Example after example can be shown of golfers getting into their comfort zone and never reaching their true potential. As you reach a lower and lower handicap in golf, you gain more and more control over your emotions. The biggest thing you gain control over is the fear emotion. Disappointment and setbacks have less effect. The ecstasy emotion seems to never go away. The joy of achievement seems to last forever.

No game tests integrity as much as golf. If you want to find out a lot about a person, play a round of golf with them. A joke I've heard recently, explains it very nicely. John comes home and says to his wife, " I'm not going to be playing golf with Dave anymore." His wife asked why? "Well, how would you like to play with a person who always moves his ball to get a better lie, who never seems to know his actual score, who is always talking when others are hitting, who never rakes the sand traps or replaces his divots or repairs his ball marks?" His wife answers, "I wouldn't like that very much either." "Well," John says, "neither does Dave."

There is nothing in golf or life more revealing about your integrity than when you try to get away with something you know is not right. Golf forces you to choose every time you play. As all golfers know, it is the times you choose integrity, that you move a step closer to your goals.

To hit a golf ball consistently where you want it go requires complete control of your mind and body. Once you have control of your mind and body for golf, you have control over other aspects of your life. Reality can be very cruel. When you learn to control your mind and your body, you will find that the cruel situations of life are handled much easier. Those who do not experience golf, may be missing life!