A lot has been said about life being similar to golf and in some
ways it is, both are four letter words like the other one which give you
ecstatic moments while living or playing and we spend our lifetime in search of
them and they remain either sporadic or elusive. Apart from this both life and
golf have a huge aspirational aspect to them, easy to look at but complex and
complicated to play or live effectively.
In golf, you are a solo player( of course there are
competitors but they too are playing their own game like we live our own lives)
with 14 clubs in your armor to choose from, to hit a stationery ball at a
target determined by you, till you sink it into a hole, there are 18 holes and
you are supposed to finish a game in 72 shots. In general, an average golfer
takes around 90 plus shots to finish a round of golf, professional take between
67 to 75 plus shots and beginners around 120 plus shots.
In the process, to begin with you need to have a strong
desire to play golf, learn, practice, invest time, money, start playing and
gradually progress to higher levels with your skill, you are on your own- a
player, a referee and a scorekeeper who signs his own report card, you have to
play the ball as it lies, overcome all hurdles created by surroundings,
weather, ground conditions, take the breaks in your stride and use your clubs
ably to reach the target area, approach, land and sink the ball in the hole.
You are not only fighting the external battle as above, but you
must overcome the internal issues as well to achieve your desired targets. A
strong foundation on basics of the game, fit body, deep breathing, high
spirits, alert mind, and soul fully into the game is a perquisite. Self-belief,
awareness of the game, understanding of its rules and etiquettes, consideration
for others, passion to excel, determination, practicing the skills, execution,
fail-succeed-learn and in the process evolve, is the name of the game. We do
face similar situations and require the skills in personal lives as well, to
progress.
Now to be an effectively a good player, you need to
strengthen internally as well, because any perfect shot demands oneness,
spiritually too that is the way to progress in life. In golf, it takes roughly
4 and half an hour to finish a round in 72 shots, execution of these shots requires
just two seconds each for that oneness where the body, mind and the club are in
unison during that swing to impact a stationery ball and propel it to the
desired destination. Total 144 seconds (72 X 2) of oneness of two seconds each spread
in between periods of inactivity and wavering mind is a tough act and everybody’s
nemesis.
Spiritualism says that you are only a part of a whole and
you need to dig deeper within you consciously to find the truth of who you are to
become one with that whole. and they meditate regularly to seek that oneness
and evolve on that path. It is a proven fact that even those who meditate, to
focus for two seconds, it requires regular practice as thoughts keep flowing
every second. Years of focused regular practice helps them first to scrape the
surface, dig deeper and then walk the path of oneness.
Oneness can
be achieved by organizing your mind, body, emotions and energies to focus in
one direction. Once your physical body, wavering mind, floating thoughts and
the energies within are in unison in that direction you reach your destination.
Similarly, in your “golf swing” during each shot a skilled golfer must aim, take
the right club and posture, head still, eyes on the ball and balance evenly
on the legs
and knees. Then leave out emotions, keep the mind and energies on the ball, move
the arms, hips, shoulders slowly and swing in unison to achieve the desired
shot. Result is the moment of ecstasy.
Practice may not make you perfect but no practice surely
makes you imperfect thus keep trying, love the process, forget the momentary
lapses and enjoy the moments of ecstasy, that is the way to play golf, live
life, lifelong, to evolve with each ecstatic moment to be a better player and
or a better human being.
Satish
Shitut
Jai Bharat
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