One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

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...

When I first lived in the United States, I experienced a bit of culture shock. People told me that they had different groups of friends for different activities. Golf friends. Work friends. Travel friends. Coffee friends. At that time, I couldn't understand it. In Korea, when we become close friends, we often try to do everything together. We study together, travel together, exercise together, and spend weekends together. I thought that was what real friendship meant. Now, almost twenty years later, I finally understand. These days, most of my free time naturally revolves around golf. I have friends I play golf with. I have friends I enjoy having dinner or coffee with. I have people I simply greet at the driving range. And somehow, that feels completely natural. To be honest, I hesitated to write this. Some people might think this sounds selfish. But that's not what I mean. Until about five years ago, I was the leader of a group of eight close hometown friends. We had known eac...

Lately, there is one thing I keep noticing whenever I look at my photos. **My belly. **(smile) The rest of my body seems fine, but why is my stomach getting a little bigger these days? So this morning, I sat down and really thought about my eating habits. And I think I found the answer. But first, I have to admit something. I really, really love food. I have always had a good appetite. I remember one time when I was in college and living with my older sister. One day, I suddenly couldn't stop thinking about jajangmyeon, Korean-Chinese black bean noodles. I told my sister, "I really want jajangmyeon." It was raining, but we actually went to a Chinese restaurant together to eat it.   That's the kind of person I am. When I want a certain food, I usually know exactly what I want. I enjoy buying good ingredients, making the food I want, and sitting down to enjoy it by myself. And even when I get sick, my appetite hardly changes. Usually, when people catch a cold or get sic...

Every now and then, I accidentally drop one of my dogs' leashes during our walk. Whenever that happens, Ruby and Rich react in completely different ways. Rich becomes the happiest dog in the world. Dragging his long leash behind him, he takes off like a free spirit, running from one place to another as if he has been waiting for this moment all day. At first, I always worry about two things. First, I hope no one gets scared when they see a large dog running freely. Rich has never shown aggression toward people, but I know not everyone is comfortable around big dogs. Second, I worry that his long leash might get caught on a tree, a fence, or a rock. If that happened, he might not be able to free himself. The funny part is that Rich never really runs away. About twenty or thirty minutes later, he always comes home by himself. During those twenty minutes, I have absolutely no chance of catching him. Even if I hold his favorite treats in my hand, freedom is simply more exci...

For a long time, I thought I knew myself quite well. I knew my strengths. I knew that I was good at negotiating and mediating between people. Even when I was working, I often thought, “If you need someone to find a middle ground, I can probably do that well.” But as I get older, I have realized that knowing my abilities is not the same as truly understanding myself. Sometimes, life has to happen first. Only then do we understand why we behave the way we do, what truly matters to us, and what kind of person we have been trying to become all along. Recently, I discovered something about myself that I had never clearly understood before. When I was young, there was one thing I wished for. “Please let me become someone who can help other people.” Looking back, that simple wish explains a lot about me. I have never had a strong desire for expensive things or luxury. Of course, I would be grateful if someone gave me something nice. But my first feeling would often be, “I hope I don't bec...

For almost ten years, Ruby and Rich had a favorite morning walking trail. It was quiet before sunrise, with very few people around. We walked there almost every day, and it became part of our routine. Two months ago, everything changed. Ruby accidentally fell off a cliff during one of our walks. Thankfully, she recovered, but after that day, I never took that trail again. It wasn't only because it was dangerous. I simply didn't want every walk to begin with anxiety instead of joy. Rich loved that trail even more than Ruby did. Normally, when Rich wants to go somewhere, he lets me know. He gently but firmly pulls the leash toward the direction he wants. Sometimes I follow him. He enjoys exploring new paths. But something surprised me. For the past two months, every morning we have passed the entrance to that trail. Not once has Rich tried to pull me toward it. I don't know whether he remembers what happened that day or whether he simply senses how I feel. Either way, he quie...

Today was the first day of my summer vacation. I had a 9-hole golf gathering at 6:30 in the morning, so I woke up around 4 a.m. I took Ruby and Rich for their morning walk, got ready, and drove about 30 minutes to the golf course. It might sound a little crazy to get up that early just to play golf, but during the hot summer, early morning is actually the most comfortable time for me to play. So when I have the chance, I don't hesitate. When I arrived, the band leader was already there. We were divided into two groups of three. But I wasn't placed with my usual friends. Instead, I was paired with two men I had never met before. Since we were strangers, we started our round rather quietly. At the first tee, I stood there with my ball and tee and asked, “May I tee up first?” One of them smiled and asked, “Do you play from the white tees?” That's a question female golfers often get. They kindly let me go first. So I put my tee into the ground and hit my first drive. And… It we...