According to ancient philosopher, Epictetus, the only way to happiness is to stop worrying about things out of our control. To be fair, Epictetus probably never played a golf shot from an elevated tee box during the magic hour before sunset. But, he was definitely on to something. In order to always enjoy golf, the first skill you should develop is resilience.
Resilience is the basis for the “separate the purpose from the goal” section in our code. In order to have fun, you have to be able to adjust to the misfortunes that are unavoidable on the golf course. You have to, like Epictetus suggests, stop worrying about the things not in your control and focus on the things you can control. And when you first start playing golf, neither the club or the ball are in your control. As a matter of fact, seasoned golfers also have problems controlling the club and ball. Stop worrying about outcomes or what you look like when making a swing. The game is about controlling what you can and adjusting to the things you can’t.
So, practice.
Hit the ball. Go find it. Hit it again.
Then practice some more.
P.S. Have you ever played a shot from an elevated tee box during the magic hour before sunset? If you haven’t, you should.
Change. Think. Golf.
