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05 June 2010
Golf is a passion of mine. I play as often as I can and even though I started to play relatively late in life my game, through hard work, excellent assistance in the form of professional lessons, I was able to attain my competitive goals.
I thought about this the other day and realized that this “game” I enjoy so much is in many ways a microcosm of life. To succeed you must have goals and a plan to achieve them. Success doesn’t come without dedication and hard work. Certainly the assistance, guidance and support you receive as you move forward with business, family and friends is invaluable. Philosophically those are valid comparisons; however, in practice, it is absolutely true.
Someone once said, “You can really identify the character of someone by playing an 18 hole match with that person.” In my opinion, that statement says it all.
Golf, through its rules of conduct and rules of the game, demands personal integrity. You are on your honor at all times to report yourself to your opponent if you violated any rule that would incur a penalty.
If you accidentally cause a ball to move, it is a penalty. The fact that some referee is not there to see the violation doesn’t matter. You are your own referee.
Life is not a game but there are rules that should apply in all of our dealings with others, whether it be our personal lives or our professional lives. We are our own referees. We set the moral tone of dealings with others. We have to live with the consequences of our actions. Our personal rule book is called a conscience.
My intent is not to pontificate. It’s just one man’s opinion. Life is not a game but golf is a game from which we can learn some of life’s rules. Best of all, if it doesn’t always go as we hoped, there is always the next tee to make it right.
