Golf is a stupid sport. You’re just hitting a little white ball a few hundred yards and trying to put it into a hole. But I love it. Golf has taught me the power of crazy, stupid optimism.
Every time you step up to the ball, you have to believe that it’s going to go where you want it to go. Even despite all recent proof to the contrary, even and perhaps especially when you just hit three out of bounds on the last hole, you have to tell yourself that the next shot is the one.
It’s a funny thing. I don’t know how, but optimism matters. I remember during one of my better rounds last summer, as I stood over the ball a few holes in, I thought to myself “Hmm… I haven’t shanked one yet”. Guess what happened, I shanked that shot…
I think that optimism and positive thinking matters as much in other areas of life as it does in golf. If anything, it changes the way you see things. If you’re constantly looking and hoping for good things to happen, you’ll see more good things happening. Kinda like when you buy a car and then start seeing it everywhere. The cars were there before, you’re just noticing them now.
I’m trying to have the same sort of optimism I have while playing golf in other areas of my life. Good things happen every day, and I want to notice them more. Plus, weirdly, I think that believing that good things are going to happen makes them more likely to happen.