One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

A cold wind suddenly arrived yesterday. Just a few days ago, it still felt like autumn. Now, it feels like winter is just around the corner. This morning, I opened the window and immediately felt the cold air. “Wow, it’s cold!” So I put on warm winter pants and a warm jacket. But I didn’t close the window. I wanted to breathe in the cool autumn air as much as I could. I like this kind of weather. Then I started thinking about yesterday’s golf round. There were golfers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. Just before teeing off, my younger golf buddy, who is in her 50s, suddenly said, “Oh, I left my arm brace in the car. My arm hurts, so I need to wear it.” And one of the older golfers in his 70s had a small bandage around his right little finger. He told me he had been having a problem with it for about two months. Eventually, he decided to have surgery this winter. I looked at them and laughed. Then I said, “As we get older, it would actually be strange to be perfectly healthy. 😊” At the time...

Today, I practiced golf like a golfer in my twenties. Why? (smile) Let me tell you what happened. Am I Living Like a Little Old Lady? For a while, my fingers had been hurting, so I became very careful with my golf practice. If I hit a few good shots, I would stop. Even when I felt like practicing a little longer, I would tell myself to take it easy. Of course, taking care of my body is important. But little by little, I started getting bored with this careful way of living. Then one day, I suddenly realized something. Wait a minute! Am I living like a little old lady already? I'm only 60! I still consider myself young! (smile) When did I become so careful about everything? I was acting as if I had to save every bit of energy for some distant future. But that's not really me. I love golf. I love swinging freely and watching the ball fly. I want to keep improving my swing and enjoy the game for as long as I can. I don't want to spend so much time protecting myself that I forg...

Now that I’ve lived to 60, I’ve realized something . Getting older doesn’t necessarily mean that your heart gets older, too. My heart is still in its twenties sometimes. When I want to do something, I want to try it. When I see something new, I get curious. And when there’s something I really want to do well, I still get ambitious. Today was a perfect example. I went to the golf practice range, and for some reason, the swing that worked so beautifully yesterday just wouldn’t work today. At first, I made a small adjustment. Nope. I changed something else. Still no. Before I knew it, golf practice had turned into a battle between me and my swing. “Why isn’t this working?” I gave myself so many sarcastic little smiles. 😏 There I was, 60 years old, holding a golf club and acting like a competitive twenty-something. Eventually, after changing this and that, I managed to get about 80% of my swing back. But by then, both my body and my mind were pretty much wrecked from the battle. ㅎㅎ And th...

Sometimes, I don't feel like going to the swimming pool. I have to pack my swimsuit, get in the car, and drive there. Honestly, sometimes I think, “Oh… should I go today? I’m too lazy.” 😂 Then I change my mind. “Wait a minute. One swimming pool can give me the benefits of three different kinds of care!” Here is how I think about it. 1. Dermatology — A Natural Face and Full-Body Lift? Haha As we get older, not only our faces but also our bodies can lose some firmness. Of course, everyone is different. Some of it may simply come from our genes, too. 😊 But I have been swimming regularly for many years, and I feel that moving my whole body in the water has helped me keep my body firm. I actually remember something that happened when I was in my 40s. One day, a woman asked me, “Your body looks very firm. What is your secret?” I answered immediately. “I swim regularly.” Of course, maybe I was naturally lucky, too. Haha. But as we get older, I think we can really see differences betwee...

About a year ago, I learned a new name for something happening inside my body: Rheumatoid arthritis. Honestly, I was scared. My finger joints had been swollen for quite a while, and eventually the pain became so severe that I could barely hold a golf club, let alone swing it. But the biggest problem for me was something else. “Does this mean I can never play golf again?” That thought made me surprisingly depressed. I thought I could handle almost anything else. But no golf? That was serious. 😂 If I could never play golf again, what was I supposed to do with the rest of my life? Would my golf clubs become decorations? Would the driving range become a place from my past? Would I have to go to the golf course just to watch other people play? I imagined everything. Looking back, it makes me laugh. But at the time, I was genuinely devastated. “This is the end of my golf career.” For a while, I was practically holding a funeral for my golf career. 😂 At first, I thought the finger problem w...

The Medicine Taken by Someone Who Is Curious About Tomorrow Something strange has been happening to me lately. They are all very small things. One little thing happens, and then another one follows. It feels like good things are coming one after another, like a long string of sausages. A few days ago, I received a golf ball-pocket bag as a gift. And I saved a white bulbul, a baby bird that I once thought of as my lucky bird. For some reason, I felt that something good might happen. And it did. During my golf round, I saw a pink-sand bunker. On the last hole, it was a par 5, and I could not even see the green from the tee. So I talked to myself. “Come on, Angie. Let’s hit a good one.” And somehow, I hit one of my best drives in a long time. Later, I even made a birdie. We were also playing a small 1,000-won (1 dollar) game. Everyone kept making their shots and taking the money, while I hardly won anything. Finally, my birdie helped me win 5,000 won (5 dollars). Then my younger golf frie...

Sometimes I think I have been “reshaping” myself for most of my life. Not with plastic surgery, though. More like… with a little creativity, good habits, and a lot of humor. 😂 To be honest, I was never unhappy with my face. I thought I was pretty cute—and maybe even a little pretty. ^^ I’ll admit that only here. 😂 But when I was young, there was one funny problem. Everyone in my family had double eyelids. Everyone except me. I had a double eyelid on only one eye—even in my high school graduation photo. My older sister used to help me fix that. Her solution? She would cut a small piece of tape with scissors and put it on my eyelid. That was my very first “cosmetic procedure.” 😂 And somehow, it worked. When I was younger, my double eyelids eventually looked so natural that people often asked me, “Did you have double-eyelid surgery?” I would think, “Nope. My sister made them for me with scissors and tape.” 😂 And then there was my nose. Once, a boyfriend told me, “Your nose would look...

My body was still a little achy this morning. I have a regular golf group round coming up on Monday, and I wanted to go to the driving range today. In the past, I probably would have followed my schedule anyway. “I'm playing golf on Monday, so I should practice today.” But this morning, my body seemed to be saying something different. “Take it easy today.” So I slept for most of the morning. And surprisingly, after getting enough sleep, I woke up feeling great. I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a little smile. “Maybe I'm still young after all.” 😂 After taking my dogs for a short walk, I went to the local market. I bought some seeds and seedlings for my winter garden—Chinese cabbage, young radish, and lettuce. I also picked up seeds for cilantro and chicory. And, of course, I couldn't resist an old favorite. A hotteok. I also brought home some jokbal, Korean-style braised pig's feet, for lunch. I had it with rice, salad, and kimchi. My dogs got a little ...

At the beginning of this week, I didn't have any special plans. The rainy season had just begun, and the weather forecast called for rain throughout the week. I thought it would be a quiet, uneventful few days. But life has a funny way of surprising us. Yesterday, I was unexpectedly invited to play golf with good people. That same evening, my younger sister quietly sent me a box of fresh corn and vegetables without saying much. Earlier in the week, I also received a call from the police asking if I could help as an interpreter. Normally, I wouldn't have been available in the evening, but because it was exam week, my schedule happened to be open at exactly the right time. Sometimes I feel that life brings me unexpected blessings more often than hardships. When I was young, my mother often joked that I had been born with good financial luck. Believe it or not, she said that on the very day I was born, my father won a lottery prize and brought home more money than usual. Whether t...