Keeping Life In Perspective

I played golf yesterday... at Seven Hills. It's a local retirement community course where I frequent with friends who are residents there.

There was a day when I could compete in most sports with the best and hold my own or win outright. That day is a distant memory. Age does that. I ran the Gasperilla (a Tampa area 10K) until I was well into my 50's. I decided to stop the day I started the race at the back of the pack... and finished there. Finishing last in a 10K against a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds is not such a bad thing. My concern was getting to the finish line before dark set in.... :-). When you can't do that it's a good bet your running days are over.

But, I digress. This is not about running. It's about golf.

After our round, the four of us sat in the lounge talking golf. John said, "I'd sure like to play a round with the likes of Tiger Woods and some of the pros." "Why", I asked... you'd just get frustrated just like you did today when I beat up on your bony self with my 82".

"Com'on Dave," he said. "You'd love to play Tiger, admit it"."

"I did play him", I retorted .... "on my Wii, and I smoked him good. Did it agian on my Play Station 2. But, I promise you... I have no fantasies of playing him in person or the slightest fantasy that I could ever beat him on a real course. Hey those guys walk 18 holes. When's the last time we did that? Now, there's a challenge for you. Or... I continued. you can stop by my house and try beating Mario on the Wii. Now there's a game that can tax your nerves and frustration level."

One of the things I've learned, as I get older, is keeping things in perspective. It's enough to find activities that keep your mind sharp and alert, and your body in as good of shape as possible without hurting yourself. You can't stop aging. What you can do is adjust to it... physically and mentally. Trying to beat it will only get you depressed and at odds with your mind and body.

Playing golf, or any sport these days, for me, is not about winning. It's about participating to the extent that I can, realizing my limits. There are days when I can no more swing a golf club than flap my arms and fly like a bird. It's a philosophy I have a hard time getting across to some of my friends. Especially the Alpha Male types overloaded with machismo and ego leak, who sometimes impress me as being a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I mean, there's reality and then there is the imagined or hoped reality that's stored in an attic collecting spider webs. But hey ... they're my friends and I can live with their fantasies so long as they don't expect me to follow suite.

That's the way it is in my world ... and so it goes!