This week the US Open Golf Championships are taking place. Before you click off because you think this post is about golf, don’t it isn’t all about golf!
The weather forecast is for rain, rain and more rain. If you have ever played golf on a rainy day you know it is not as easy as it is on a bright sunny day. In fact golf in the rain is plain old miserable! Two weeks ago I played in a golf tournament when it started to rain and didn’t stop. I went from having a great relaxing time to being cold, wet and yes, miserable. The reason I was miserable was not as you might think because of the rain. Yes I was soaked, yes I was cold, but that isn’t enough to make me miserable (remember I come from the land of rain!). The reason I was miserable, and golf is miserable in the rain is because my game goes to pot and I become a hacker in a matter of minutes (for those who don’t play golf, a hacker is someone who can barely hit the ball).
I am not the only golfer to play awful in the rain. The rain messes with your clubs, your shoes, your clothes and most of all your mind. The way you should play when it rains, or when it storms or when it is very windy is to take a club extra (if you can hit your 8 iron 150 yards and you have 150 yards to the green take a seven or a six iron), swing it slower than normal and most importantly take extra time to think over every shot you are going to hit. This is easier said than done. If you watch the US Open this week you will see that even the Pro’s find this hard to do. I certainly do.
However, this approach is not just the approach one should take on the golf course. This is an approach we should take to life when we are suffering personal storms, personal problems and personal misery! In these times it is natural to speed everything up. We want to make quick decisions, we throw caution to the wind and we forget to think through what is ahead of us. So if you are heading into a storm, in the middle of a storm and having to face some big decisions take a lesson from golf:
- Slow down
- Think through every decision clearly
- Think what are the best and worst options
- Don’t be a maverick
- Except and embrace the elements of the storm
- Keep to your natural game or self, don’t do things you normally wouldn’t do
- Keep your eye on the ball and the goal, not the conditions around you
- Get a huge umbrella (meaning a support group who will keep you from getting more wet than you already are)
- Keep your towel dry (not sure of the life application to that, be it is a must in golf)
- Pray you make the shot!
The great news about the rain is that the age old proverb is actually true, ‘brighter days are ahead!’ Even though you may feel it has been raining in your life for a long time, there are days ahead when the rain will cease and the sun will once again come out. Wait out the rain today and then you’ll enjoy the sun even more tomorrow!
