One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

Nobody is happy every day. Me, either.  😂 This morning, I played nine holes with some good golfing friends. They are always friendly and nice. They are a little older than me, but they are all passionate golfers. The weather was beautiful, the course was peaceful, and we simply enjoyed playing together. Honestly, just being able to enjoy a beautiful morning like this should have been enough to make me happy. But apparently, I wanted more. 😂 My golf swing has been a little inconsistent lately. Sometimes I hit a really clean, beautiful shot, and I think, “Ah, my swing is finally coming back.” But the next day, it somehow disappears again. Today, after nine holes, I decided to practice some more. I had 90 minutes at the range. I practiced for about an hour. But my body just wasn't cooperating. I knew what I was trying to do. At the beginning of my backswing, I need to let my lower body start naturally and then let my upper body follow. But I was keeping my lower body too still a...

Yesterday, my golf swing felt really good. The impact felt solid, and my finish came naturally. I was practicing alone and thought, “Wow… I look pretty good. 😂😁” But you know how golfers are. When something is going well, sometimes we still want to make it even better. So this morning, I watched YouTube. I found a video about how to make the backswing easier . The coach said that keeping the left armpit close to the body could help make the backswing and body rotation easier. Hmm. That sounded interesting. So, of course, I tried it at the range today. And…… Nope.  😂😁 It was terrible. When I kept my left armpit close to my body, my rotation actually felt restricted. I couldn't turn as comfortably as I normally do. I tried again. And again. Still awkward. I thought, “Wait… what happened to my swing?” I had worked hard to find my comfortable swing, and now I was almost losing it because I wanted to improve it. Honestly, I was pretty frustrated today.  😂😁 Finally, I stopped ...

Venice, Vienna, Paris, London… I traveled to Hong Kong many times, visited Singapore, and went to Hawaii more than once. I lived in San Francisco and played a lot of golf there. I have seen many beautiful places around the world. And of course, there were places like Niagara Falls that were simply breathtaking in scale. But something interesting happened as I traveled more. The more of the world I saw, the more beautiful my hometown, Seogwipo, became to me. Not just because of the scenery. Because it is home . My neighborhood friends are here. My old school friends are here. My family and relatives are here. If I have a problem, I can call someone. There is always someone who will help me. When I was younger, I sometimes thought having too many people who knew me was uncomfortable. I wanted my privacy. I wanted to be independent. But now, I see it differently. Having people who know me makes me feel safe. Sometimes a relative or one of my siblings will call and say, “Come and get some ...

These days, I’m having a lot of fun just living my everyday life. For a while, especially after COVID, I thought a lot about living a life on my own. I think many people did. Being alone can be comfortable. You don’t have to worry about other people, and you can simply do whatever you want. But these days, my thoughts have changed quite a bit. The better our relationships with people are, the more enjoyable life becomes. I don’t mean that we need to meet lots of people. I simply mean being a little warmer and kinder to the people we happen to meet throughout the day. Sometimes, that alone can make an ordinary day feel much better. Something like that happened this morning. The forecast said it was going to rain all morning, so I had decided not to go to the driving range. But suddenly, the weather changed. “Oh? Maybe I can go after all!” So I quickly got ready and went to the driving range a little later than usual. But when I arrived, there wasn’t a single spot available on the first ...

It had been raining for almost two days. The weather forecast said it was going to keep raining this afternoon, too, so I thought I should just stay home. But after staying inside for so long, my back started to hurt, and I felt so restless. Around noon, I took my dogs for a walk and looked up at the sky. For some reason, I had a feeling that it wasn't going to rain anymore. The forecast still said rain, but the sky looked different to me. I thought, “Hmm… I don't think it's going to rain.” So I decided to go to the driving range. I was getting so restless that I thought I was going to go crazy if I stayed home any longer. ㅎㅎ Of course, I had to be careful because of my two Jindo dogs. When I'm home, they stay inside the living room with me. But when I go out, they stay in the yard. There is a small shed where they can get out of the rain, but especially in summer, I try not to make plans when it's raining. So I told myself, “I'll go to the driving range, and if...

Today was one of those golf days that made me very happy. It had been about two or three weeks since my last round because of my long summer break. The weather was still warm, but I could feel a little autumn breeze. It felt like a perfect day for golf. On the back nine, I came to a par 3 with a very unusual bunker. The sand was pink. I had never seen a pink-sand bunker before. It was so pretty against the green grass, blue sky, and pine trees. And then something even better happened. I made a birdie! 🏌️‍♀️ My caddie took a photo of me hitting a bunker shot from the pink sand. I think that photo will always remind me of this round. But honestly, I was a little worried before the round. Yesterday, I had practiced at the driving range, and my driver was not working well at all. I couldn't find my old impact feeling. The other two players today are both longer hitters. One of my younger golf friends usually hits her driver about 20 meters farther than I do. So yesterday, inst...

I used to think that having a full life meant having a full schedule. Work. People. Appointments. Things I had to do. There was always something filling the next empty space. But somewhere along the way, I started doing something different. I began letting go. Not dramatically. Not with anger. Just quietly. Some relationships no longer needed my time and energy, so I stopped forcing them. Instead, I made more room for the people I genuinely enjoy. And then something interesting happened. I had more space for myself. These days, I still teach English. Sometimes I teach for five hours straight, and yes, I still get tired. 😂 But I don't teach every day anymore. I play golf with friends. I practice at my driving range, which has slowly become my little lounge. I go swimming. I take care of my garden. I walk with Ruby and Rich. And I write. None of these things are particularly extraordinary. But they feel different now. Because I have chosen them. I don't...