Six Years in Pinehurst
The other day I played golf at Pinehurst. Although it is a bit of a golf Mecca and two hours from my house, I had never been there. I was playing as a single and was paired up with a couple from Minneapolis and a retired Philadelphia fire chief who lives at Pinehurst and is a member of the club there. We rode together on the same cart and got to know each other. I asked him, almost with envy because he lived there, “what’s it like living here.” I expected some neat answer about heaven on earth etc. His answer was quite different.
He almost sounded embarrassed as he said to me, ‘Wally, I have lived here for 6 years and I am 76 years old. There has to be more to life than playing golf.” He went on to say that he only played golf three days a week (that there were people who played everyday) and he was getting bored. Interesting. Here I thought he was going to rave about it and that was the last thing he was saying.
How often do we run through life, not fully living the moment, in expectation that the next moments will be better? What are we waiting for? If you aren’t finding happiness today and think it is just around the corner when something happens for you or to you I think you might be in a for a rude awakening.
My Pinehurst buddy has lived a full life in the Navy and fighting fires. Now he is in retirement and there are no challenges in sight. And it is in the challenges where we find life and fulfillment. One of the biggest challenges is learning to love yourself and live where you are. My speaking coaching, Doug Stevenson, says, “Love yourself and let them watch.” He means that you need to be comfortable and happy with you before any audience can be happy with you.
Life isn’t always easy but it doesn’t have to be hard. Life is easier when you are able to find the good and experience happiness where you are. Where are you now?
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September 5th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Great story, Wally! We always thing everybody else has it made, huh? What did you shoot?
September 6th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Well, Denise, on that day I shot a 90 on Pinehurst number 4. The next day I shot a 79 on Pinehurst number 1. I was happy I didnt quit during the club championship as I mentioned back in June.