Golf Fest (2)
Last week I reported what I learned from my caddy about respect. This week, I want to report something I learned about myself from the trip to the Dominican Republic and its aftermath. I completely and finally confirmed my love of golf as a sport which doesn't require great skill to enjoy. The reason it doesn't require great skill is that the competition in golf is with yourself and the golf course. It doesn't matter what others playing on the same course accomplish. It's only how well you can play compared to your potential. If another player is enjoying him or herself next to me, so much the better, but it doesn't affect my game, my shots, my enjoyment of golf. I wish I had more skill, I try as hard as I can to hit the best shots, score as well as I can, but I'm unaffected by the skill of the other players on the course.
It's become more and more clear to me that golf is life. The things I learn about myself and others from golf are applicable to life in general. In addition to golf, in general I enjoy participating in activities in a non-competitive environment. Many people I know are competitive about everything and I enjoy their company as well, but the most fun for me is an environment where everyone enjoys something without continually striving to "one-up" the other participants. In my ideal world, we wouldn't need winners and losers, we would enjoy the game for its own sake. As long as we're doing our best, it doesn't matter whether someone else is better. It especially doesn't matter whether someone is better than I on a given day.
It's true in every situation, work, friendships, hobbies. We win by doing our best, without regard to whether others do better. Others may have better scores, make more money, gain more acclaim. It doesn't matter as long as we're doing the right thing by our own standards. It's sometimes appropriate to compete, to hone our skills, to test ourselves, to help others do the same. But at the end of the day, it's the pleasure of playing that is the key.
Said another way, there isn't enough money, acclaim or any other reward to make up for being uncomfortable, for lowering our standards, for not doing our best. Do your best, enjoy the game, whether golf or life, accept that doing your best is all the reward you need. You'll be happier and you'll make others happier as well.
5-26-03
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