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...

For the past year, I've been paying a lot of attention to my health. After discovering my finger condition, I became much more careful about using my body. Of course, taking care of my health was the right thing to do. But at some point, I started wondering if I had become too careful. Actually, I hadn't visited the driving range for almost seven months. Instead, I continued playing regular rounds of golf. For a while, everything was fine. I enjoyed my rounds, and I didn't feel that I needed to practice much to enjoy the game. But one day, my swing rhythm started to fall apart. Apparently, playing on the course wasn't enough to maintain the swing I wanted. So I went back to the driving range. It's been almost two months since I started practicing again. Getting my old swing back has been harder than I expected. Once my familiar rhythm was gone, it took time to find it again. Only recently have I started to rediscover the swing I had a year ago. It's not perfect ...

I recently started a very important project. Project: Flat Belly. 😂 And there is actually a reason why I started it. Ever since I started my blog, I've been taking a lot more photos of myself. Golf photos. Walking photos. Everyday life photos. Pictures with friends. Pictures of me doing all kinds of things. And when I started looking at all those photos… I noticed my belly. 😂 Not in the mirror. In the photos. Apparently, cameras are much more honest than mirrors. 🤣 At first, I thought, “Hmm… maybe it's just the angle.” Then another photo. And another. And another. Okay. Maybe it isn't the angle. 😂 So I decided to do something about it. I'm giving myself about six months to work on my posture and gradually make my belly flatter. I'm not adding another workout to my already busy routine. I already play golf, swim, walk my dogs, and stay active in my everyday life. Instead, I'm paying more attention to my posture and the way I use my body throughout the day....

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...