Hello Empowered Wayers:
Why do people become obsessed about golf? Isn’t it a game of hitting a small ball thousands of yards, while you follow behind?
That’s the way I thought of golf for many years, until yesterday.
Suddenly, it became clear to me that golf is a metaphor of life.
When I bow to my Creator, balance my energy, and choose my state of being, I can never lose. Instead, life flows through me and I am happy with myself and the world.
What happened
Yesterday, I took my first golf lesson. The teacher understood my need to visualize the process and examine the steps that lead up to hitting the ball.
Step 1 — grip the club with the v of both hands extending down the shaft.
Step 2 — address the ball with your arms hanging loosely in front, your feet parallel to the imaginary tracks of where you want your ball to go.
Step 3 — bow to the ball, placing the club face in a neutral position.
Step 4 — balance yourself over the middle of your feet.
Step 5 — start your swing, bringing the club up, creating an arc of motion. Your left hip moves forward as your right hip drops back.
Step 6 — extend your right arm as you swing the club in the arc, hips moving in the same direction. As you hit the ball, your right hip is extended and the left hip is back, shifting all of your weight from your right foot to your left.
The energy transfer from your hips propels the ball into the air. You no longer have any control over the ball and you accept where it lands.
What struck me about this process is that it works for every club in the bag. You adjust to the length of the club, but your swing is the same. When you follow these steps faithfully, your club does the work.
Trust in the process and watch your game unfold.
Life is like a game of golf
I used to be a control freak. It was embarrassing how upset I would get if something didn’t go the way I expected. My expectations would always set the stage for “failure” and I never found peace.
I was too busy chasing a goal or project to step back and see the entire picture. My “failures” influenced my next project and I handicapped myself before I even started.
Golf is like life. From one perspective, you chase a small ball around a large area, trying to get it to land in the hole. Along the way, when you duff a shot or miss a birdie, it can influence your next shot.
You bring the past into the present, which impacts your future.
How to live a meaningful life
When you have a problem to solve or goal to achieve, the steps are the same as outlined above. It’s like using a wood versus an iron, you follow the same sequence with adjustments.
Step 1 — Grip the club of the problem or goal. Clarify the issues and determine why you are pursuing it. Keep asking, “Why?” until you get to the ground floor of your motivation.
Step 2 — Address the ball by placing yourself at a comfortable distance. If you are too close to the problem or goal, your perspective is narrowed and your options are limited. Give yourself space to breathe.
Step 3 — Bow to the problem or goal by going within. All answers lie within you, you just have to be still and listen. Connect to your higher source and offer the problem or goal to it. Instead of asking for help, thank your higher source for the opportunity to rely on it’s wisdom and guidance.
Step 4 — Balance yourself and your energy. You are only an instrument in this process, much like the club you hold in your hand. When your energy is aligned with your higher source and your faith in the unseen is grounded, you are ready for the final step.
Step 5 — Be in the flow as the energy is transferred from the unseen to the seen. Your hips (and ego) don’t stop the flow, because you are being the flow. Fluid, smooth movements of your body and your energy send the ball soaring.
Your intention of where the ball should go directs the flow, but you have done your part. Watch and admire the beauty of what you created and know that you have fulfilled your purpose in that moment.
You are essential in the hands of Divine Love.
The takeaway
Bow, balance and being are the steps to a masterful life.
Remember, we are being human when we first acknowledge God by bowing, when we balance ourselves so we are being love in every moment.
Judgment, criticism, and loneliness dissolve, because you already have everything you need.
You are the golf club in the hands of a loving God.
Be well,
Kathryn