I've embarked on a new process aimed at refining my golf game.  I am keeping track of how far I hit the ball with each club.  The theory is that, having that information, I will have an easy choice when making club selections and thus more confidence.

About midway through today's nine holes with Tom, Renee' and Dan; however, I slipped over the edge from "data gathering" into performance assessment.  As if there was some ruler in the sky that categorized hitting my 9 iron 100 yards as "good" while hitting it 80 yards is "bad."

Nothing, I repeat, No-Thing is worse for my golf game than when I start judging how poorly I'm doing against any measure.  If I'm concentrating on the current shot, the current lie, the current obstacles--I have a great time whether or not I hit a great shot.  But when I want to hit a great shot, when I invest it with meaning and importance...well, then it's practically guaranteed that I'll be miserable.

It's funny how much golf teaches me about life.  Because it's the same deal in living day to day.  If I focus on the here and now, the task that is before me, the moment I'm living--then I usually am fairly productive and even when I make mistakes, it's an opportunity to learn.  But if I focus on "shoulds" or on the pursuit of some gold standard of perfection, I often fall short and am, as in golf, miserable.

Funny how miserable and miser share the same root.  Wretchedness. 

I can be generous with myself in golf and in life by accepting my circumstances and doing my best, learning from challenges and mistakes.  Or I can be miserly with myself--holding back approval and building unrealistic expectations.

I vote for generous.  Data is good for growth and learning.  I'll leave the judging in more capable hands.

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