Play the Ball Where it Lies

The US Open golf tournament that concluded today provided a reminder of one of the many important life lessons that are part of the game. At Bethpage Black this weekend, golfers had to contend with not just the extraordinary difficulty of the course and the pressure that comes with playing in a major tournament, but rainy weather conditions that consistenly stymied their rhythm and momentum. This was a tournament that ended on Monday not because of an 18-hole playoff but because of multiple weather delays. In the end, a talented but lesser-known player named Lucas Glover prevailed over such legendary names as Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Tiger Woods.

What's interesting about this is that the simple luck of the draw allowed Glover to play the majority of his tournament in good scoring conditions while many other players, including Tiger Woods, played in conditions much worse. Though golfers would confess their frustration that the conditions differed so much among the players (and frankly contributed to the end result), none would gripe about his fate or blame his result on this. This is because in golf, players know they have to play the ball where it lies. You hit it into the tall weeds, you deal with the circumstances and play it from there. Golfers are trained at putting the last shot behind them and focusing simply on the next shot ahead.

A teacher of mine, in response to my griping about some result, once told me "it's not a question of fairness." His glib retort to me was eloquent in its simplicity. He essentially told me life is not fair so I'd better deal with it. Over the years I have come to realize this was one of the most important pieces of advice I'd received. It's easy to get bogged down in self pity about things, particularly when life throws us one of its inevitable curveballs. But the ability to take that circumstance, accept it and move on with purpose is the only way to turn it around. Obsessing about the past does nothing but impede our future.

Many here in the US get bummed because they don't have enough money to buy that fancy new car or take that luxurious vacation abroad. Meanwhile, almost half the world (over 3 billion people) lives on less than USD $2.50 per day (source: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats) and roughly 80% of the world lives on less than USD $10 per day. The magnitude of these numbers are astounding:

They don't play much golf in places like Zambia and the Gaza Strip (where over 80% live below the poverty line), as their concerns are typically more about survival than the neverending pursuit of increasing comfort. I would venture to say that if more people here in the US thought about where their own ball really lies, they'd realize it's been lifted up, cleaned and placed for them right in the middle of the fairway, 100 yards from the pin. Just a simple wedge will get them to the hole. The lion's share of people on this earth will never even get to take that shot.