When the Angels brought to my attention that golf should be named recovery–for that’s what you do most of the time–it dramatically changed my outlook on the round. It lighted me up by realizing I didn’t have to be perfect and I wasn’t expected to hit perfect shots, all the time. The game was designed to have areas of trouble— bunkers, rough, woods, adjacent fairway—to keep things interesting and amusing too! When my ball is in one of these less than desirable places, I now have a different mindset and see it as an opportunity to muster up courage and dig deep or whatever is needed to extricate my ball. This, interestingly, turns out to be an obscure gift which is satisfying and empowering too–when you get the ball out that is!
Here’s a recent recovery round conveyed by the Angels…
“With intentions set for a fun and fabulous round, Denise left the house feeling positively confident. She stopped by the driving range to hit a few (successfully) for confirmation that we are practicing on her behalf. Yes, we can practice for you too—more on this in future blogs.
On the first tee, her drive went left, hit a tree branch and landed in the rough. With her firm conviction, she was determined not to be deterred from a fabulous round and hit a good second and third shot with a ten foot putt for par, which just grazed the hole. No worries or concerns, she thought, all is well and remained positive. This continued throughout the round just missing the hole from chips and putts. It seemed as if every hole had a challenge and hence an opportunity for greatness, giving her many chances to use the fourteen tenacious tools in her bag.
On the walk home, she thought, what was the message? We showed her a big carnival type wheel in her mind’s eye (imagination), spinning and landing on the word recovery, which turned out to be the theme of the day’s round. This made her giggle and she thought it certainly was a recovery round Sometimes, we present a theme for the day to bring what’s most needed. It’s best to change your perspective and look at trying situations as opportunities for growth, confidence building and gratification. Surrendering and accepting what is, as well as doing your very best, will get you through the thick of it—and a thank you Angels is warranted too!”