Who Will Be the True Winner in Life and Golf? - 누가 진정한 승자일까?

When I was younger,

I believed the winners in life were those who achieved success—
business, money, status, and recognition.

But over time, my answer has changed.

Now, I believe the true winner is simply the person
who lives healthily, happily enough,
and eventually leaves this world with peace.

Of course, having money is better than not having it.
But when wealth becomes excessive,
it often begins to demand something in return—
your time, your attention, and sometimes even your peace.

The idea of “enough” is not always easy to define.
But one thing I have learned with certainty is this:

My happiness is not created by my surroundings or external conditions.
It is decided quietly, somewhere inside my own heart.

Even when I was younger,
I was never particularly ambitious.

During nearly twenty years at a global company—
what many people considered one of the best careers,
especially for a woman at that time,
where I was promoted to a Senior Manager role—
I always believed in a simple win-win philosophy.

Perhaps I seemed naïve to others.
Too pure. Too trusting.

But even now,
I have never once thought that was a mistake.

Maybe that sincerity was why people trusted me.
At one point, I was even entrusted with overseeing major financial responsibilities.

But as I moved higher,
I realized that success was no longer just about doing good work.

It required navigating office politics,
moving with invisible currents,
and investing too much energy into relationships that slowly exhausted me.

That was not the life I wanted.

So I made a bold decision.

I left my stable, well-paying career
and chose to go to graduate school in the United States.

Many people around me tried to stop me.
They couldn’t understand why I would walk away from something so secure.

But strangely, I could not hear their voices.

Looking back,
perhaps it was because I already knew exactly what I liked—
and what I did not.

Of course I was afraid.

Leaving behind comfort and financial stability is never easy.

But even now,
I can say with complete honesty:

It was one of the best decisions of my life.

These days,
my goal in both life and golf is no longer to become better and better endlessly.

It is much simpler than that.

To stay healthy enough to walk on my own two feet.

To enjoy playing golf for as long as I can.

To protect this quiet, precious life I have now.

Perhaps that is what winning really means.

Not having the most.

But being able to enjoy what you already have—
for as long as possible.

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KR Summary
젊었을 때는 성공과 돈이 인생의 승리라고 믿었지만, 지금은 건강하고 평온하게 살아가는 사람이 진정한 승자라고 생각한다. 내 행복은 외부 환경이 아니라 내 마음이 결정한다는 것을 알게 되었고, 그래서 안정된 직장을 떠나는 선택도 후회하지 않았다. 인생도 골프도 더 잘하려 애쓰기보다, 오래 걸으며 즐길 수 있는 시간을 지키는 것이 지금 나의 가장 소중한 목표다.

In addition,

On a quiet Saturday morning,
listening to the music I love,
I can feel the hidden emotions inside me gently rise again.
This peaceful moment feels like heaven to me.

These days, I love this quiet time—
writing, then forgetting,
and later reading my own words again,
as if I’m gently reminding myself of who I am.

Sometimes, writing is not about creating something new.
It is simply a way of meeting myself again.

아주 평범한 조용한 아침, 좋아하는 음악과 함께 내 안의 감성을 다시 만나는 이 시간이 지금의 나에게는 작은 천국이다. 왜냐하면, 나를 다시만나는 방법이기 때문일것이다. 

Photo: A walk with dogs with pretty orange tangerines behind the stone wall

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