Skip to main content

Navigating Catholic Life - Part 5 Golf vs Life Analogy: Pay Attention!

Image
By
 +
JMJ
 
By Lilrizz - Personal Photo, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16381754

NTS: Journal July 14, 2022

 A number of factors conspired to make me decide to spend more time golfing this year.  Stress relief was the major factor.  Getting up early in the morning for a 7am tee-time is, frankly, great.  I was able to beat the heat of the day (which was gruelling this summer) and take a two hour 'walk' to exercise and disconnect from the issues causing my stress levels to increase.

On one of these 'walks' I realised that golf has some analogies for life:

  1. You don't hold life in your hands, it sits there waiting for you to do something, while all the external variables continue to shift.
  2. You need to pay attention to a lot of subtle variables to make a good shot and even then the wind and other hazards (ie. bunker) can suddenly change and make a great shot into a good shot (which I would be happy with) and a good shot into a bad one.
  3. You are responsible for your own performance. No one is going to tackle or block your shot.  You are competing against yourself.
  4. You will be better than some and worse than others and practice (ie hard work) is the only way to improve your performance.
  5. Sometimes the course will beat you even when you are on your game. Your best game may not be enough.
     

Playing on this Golf is like Life, you need to pay attention to move in the right direction, and I have made many missteps. Here's the 'process' that I am trying to follow to improve my game:

  1. Ball: Tee-up or examine the lie of the golf ball = Know where you are or situational awareness. If you don't know your starting point you won't be able to make a plan from 'here' to 'there'.
  2. Target: You need to look at your target and plan the series of shots needed to get to the green and put the ball in the hole. Then note the current point the your are aiming for in the drive from the tee-box.  This first point may be only 12 inches from the ball in order to try to correct for a 'slice' or 'hook'.
  3. Club: Check the distance and select an appropriate club for the lie of the ball and shot you are trying to make.
  4. Ground your club: The club is designed to hit the ball in a certain way.  You need to setup your stance etc to hit a good shot.  Happy Gilmore is a fictional piece of work. As a friend said, golf is hard with a combination of fine and coarse motor control functions. Note: I have noticed that some professionals ground the club with their right hand and then setup their grip.
  5. Landmarks: Orient yourself to the ball (distance and position relative to your lead foot), and look at your far, medium and close landmarks that will lead to the green.
  6. Stance: Settle into the stance appropriate for the shot. Make certain to remember to breath :-).
  7. Agility: To swing well you have to be warmed up and flexible.  Maybe the warmup should have been the first step. Anyway, stretch before each shot and take a couple practice swings.
  8. Ready: Check both your position and your mindset for the shot.
  9. Aim: Check that the club face is aimed correctly, look at your target in front of the ball and ... take another deep breath.
  10. Fire: Check another deep breath and take a deep breath and let it part way out (just like in other shooting sports).

In an ideal world, the ball will take the path you wanted and land by or near your target.  That seldom is the case for average golfer and in life we are all average ;-).

 Learn from the shot, then put it behind you. This definitely applies to golf and life, if you can't learn from the past and then leave the past behind you, then the burden will continue to grow until you are crushed.

In life, a lot of these points help us practice life and Catholicism in a more deliberate way instead of leaving the autopilot in control.

I hope this is as helpful to you as these journal entries have been to me.

P^3

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

De Veritate - St. Thomas Aquinas - What is necessary to believe explicitly?

By
I was recently introduced to a work of St. Thomas De Veritate ( Source ) in the course of an argument concerning the minimum content of explicit faith.  When I submitted the following quote as proof: Theological faith, that is, a supernatural faith in Revelation, is necessary, and this is an effect of grace (D 1789); nemini unquam sine ilIa contigit iustificatio (D 1793). As far as the content of this faith is concerned, according to Hebr. 11, 6, at least the existence of God and retribution in the other world must be firmly held, necessitate medii (by the necessity of means) with explicit faith. In regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation, implicit faith suffices. The supernatural faith necessary for justification is attained when God grants to the unbeliever by internal inspiration or external teaching a knowledge of the truths of Revelation, and actual grace to make the supernatural act of faith. Cf. De verite 14, I I.Ott - Fundamentals of Dogma p241 In response my opponent ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comparision of the Tridentine, Cranmer and Novus Ordo Masses

By
+ JMJ I downloaded the comparison that was linked in the previous article on the mass (here) . ... a very good reference! P^3 From: Whispers of Restoration (available at this link) . CHARTING LITURGICAL CHANGE Comparing the 1962 Ordinary of the Roman Mass to changes made during the Anglican Schism; Compared in turn to changes adopted in the creation of Pope Paul VI’s Mass in 1969 The chart on the reverse is a concise comparison of certain ritual differences between three historical rites for the celebration of the Catholic Mass Vetus Ordo: “Old Order,” the Roman Rite of Mass as contained in the 1962 Missal, often referred to as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”The Ordinary of this Mass is that of Pope St. Pius V (1570) following the Council of Trent (1545-63), hence the occasional moniker “Tridentine Mass.” However, Trent only consolidated and codified the Roman Rite already in use at that time; its essential form dates to Pope St. Gregory the Great (+604), in whose time the R...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 5b - How Did We Get Here??? ... A Continued Anlaysis using ChatGPT.

By
 + JMJ Part 5b How Did We Get Here??? So in the previous ChatGPT analysis the LLM ‘concluded’ that there was continuity in doctrine. So now we’re going to explore this element. There is some repetition but I don't have time right now to do a lot of editing.  I think instead we'll have a Part 5c where I try to pull it all together with some old fashioned human sense making. At the end point, I think the LLM collects an interesting if somewhat skewed perspective: The SSPX mapping hinges on this claim: That Vatican II affirms (at least implicitly) propositions that the Syllabus of Errors explicitly condemned. The broader Church response is: The same propositions are still rejected—but Vatican II is addressing different categories (political, pastoral, anthropological) rather than reversing doctrine. While the summary of the SSPX position seems close, that of the broader Church seems to be either an outright AI hallucination or a consensus point from the literature that it used...
Post a Comment
Read more

News Roundup: April 30, 2026

By
 + JMJ I just realised that I haven't posted the latest Roundup ... and there is a lot in the roundup as the media storm around the SSPX continues! I also just noticed this article: European Conservative: Why the SSPX Bishop Decision Matters Far Beyond Church Politics (link) .  P^3 === Popes Past Present and Future Papal News and Views Cardinal Fernandez maintains that Francis is not dead- metaphorically Pope Leo XIV Reopens Amoris Laetitia File | FSSPX News Pope Leo: “We Do Not Agree with the Formalized Blessing of …Homosexual Couples” - OnePeterFive RORATE CÆLI: How Pope Leo is Reshuffling the Curia: Musical Chairs and Power Games RORATE CÆLI: A Giant Leap: The meaning of Cardinal Eijk’s Pontifical High Mass and the Rebirth of Dutch Catholicism RORATE CÆLI: A Sign of Continuity with the Pre-Francis Papacy: Pope to Wash Feet of Twelve Priests RORATE CÆLI: Vatican Blocks Continuity of Procedure of Beatification and Canonization of Argentine Bishop -- no new Satanellis Pope Leo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 5 - How Did We Get Here???

By
 + JMJ This is the fifth in this series and I think it may require a part b to show the controversial documents and teachings of the Pope post V2. P^3 Part 5 How Did We Get Here??? Introduction My family became ‘Traditional’ in early 1980’s and I didn’t realise until years later how early we entered the Fray. So the SSPX was slightly over a decade old when we started going to Mass. That is a young organization, as someone said at the consecrations “Aren’t you a little young to be a bishop?”, the response was, “That is something that time will change.” 1970: SSPX founded with diocesan approval (Abp. Marcel Lefebvre) 1974–1976: Vatican II disputes escalate; Lefebvre suspended a divinis 1988: Illicit episcopal consecrations → excommunications declared 2000: SSPX Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome (signals openness to talks) 2009: Excommunications lifted by Pope Benedict XVI 2011–2012: Doctrinal talks with CDF collapse 2015–2017: SSPX granted faculties for confessi...
Post a Comment
Read more