Ever thought about cheating? I mean, you know, in the way you judge yourself.
Recently I had a chance to play a little golf in Myrtle Beach. The usual suspects, the usual activities. Friends from another place that I see once or twice a year, great courses, cold drinks, and in my case, some pretty bad golf.
Temptation is to measure yourself in times like this. Longest drive, best score, and ahem, most beers.
Temptation can lead to weakness, and, of course, by weakness, I mean that dreaded fact:
EVERYBODY cheats at Golf.
Whether it’s playing “Winter Rules” all year long (rolling the ball over for a better lie), or deciding that white out-of-bounds stake is JUST outside your ball, EVERYBODY does it.
That’s me and my friend, Jeff. He’s Jeff, too. I’m the one sucking it in. Judging myself, in advance, it was best to do that- my corrective shirt didn’t seem to be holding serve against my midsecton. The photo might end up in a Blog, after all.
“Breaking 100” is something that I try to do. Less than 100 strokes per round. The pros break par. Like, less than 72 strokes a round. You’re something called a “scratch golfer” if you can do that all the time. My only flirtation with “scratch” is when those nasty sand varmints in South Carolina attack from a sand trap- the dreaded “no-see-ums”- because, well, you don’t. Until it’s too late.
So, playing “honest”, how many golfers actually break a hundred?
————————————————————————————————————-
Score less than 80= 5%
80-89=19.7%
90-99= 27.2%
100-119= 32.8%
More than 119= 15.3%
————————————————————————————————————-
So, according to the National Golf Foundation, more than half- nearly 52%- break the century mark.
One word. Baloney. I’ve seen them play.
.
So, what does that have to do with anything? Golf is a game, unless you are a pro watched by millions and playing for millions, that you keep your own score. Much like living every day. Who’s going to notice the slight transgression at work? Likely, no one. If you can sleep at night, you’re good to go.
But that’s not what I’m thinking about here. The things that REALLY count are the ones where you ARE the only one keeping score. In a spot where the boss doesn’t have a clue what you do? Set your own targets, do it for your own satisfaction.
Parenting not going as you had hoped, despite the best efforts? Stay the course, you know you are doing the right thing.
Not making the difference you want in your community, your neighborhood, your group of friends? Stay with it. Karma is an amazing power. If you use it for good.
Oh, and I didn’t break a hundred. Not even once. But I walked away knowing I had asked all the right questions of friends I see too rarely, and they had asked the right ones of me.
