Phil with the Claret Jug
I love golf. I am not playing as much this year with the farm, but I still love the game. I follow the pro game weekly and watch it when I can. Austin loves golf. Brooke and Landon enjoy it too and are just getting started with the game. Austin and Brooke will start a golf camp this week.
One of the reasons I love golf is the life lessons you learn from it. You learn to deal with failure. Most golfers fail more than they succeed. Even on a good day you leave talking about how it could have been better.
One of my favorite golfers is Phil Mickelson. Phil has had tremendous success and made a ton of money playing golf, but he has also had a lot of failure. He was asked this week about overcoming the disappointment of missing the cut at the Masters. Phil is in the midst of a poor season for him. He has not won, nor finished in the top 10 on tour this year.
Phil said,”You always have to let go of poor performances; it’s part of the game of golf,” Mickelson said. “Failing is a huge part of this game, especially playing professionally, and you have to let it go and move forward. There are too many great tournaments coming up to let a poor performance affect your upcoming events.”
Last year Phil lost the U.S. Open on the final day finishing 2nd for a record 6th time. He didn’t want to get out of bed for a couple of days. He ended up bouncing back and winning the British Open a short time later.
I often say that golf is a cruel game. Players are often known more for their disasters or near misses than their victories.
We can learn from golf and Phil in our lives. In golf there is always another hole! You have to put the last one behind you and focus on the next. In life, you have to understand you are going to fail. You are going to have near-misses and sometimes fall flat on your face. (For a golf illustration see Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot where he lost it on the last hole and called himself an “idiot” afterwards.)
The Apostle Paul teaches us this same attitude
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14)
