One Swing Philosophy — What Golf Taught Me About Life

Today, I finally fixed something that had been bothering me for years. It was the wall above my bed. I had tried different things before, including a fabric picture that never quite looked right. For two or three years, I simply left it there, even though it bothered me whenever I looked at it. Today, I decided to do something about it. I thought it would be a simple job. Just attach some palm boards to the wall, and I would be done. Of course, things didn't go as planned. The wallpaper behind the boards was poorly attached, so I had to remove it. Then I discovered that the palm boards were slightly too small. Oh, no! Luckily, I had kept some leftover wallpaper. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to cover the missing part. After measuring, adjusting, and pinning everything into place, I finally finished the job. The result wasn't absolutely perfect. The boards above my bed are a little crooked. Funny enough, I had done a better job with the much larger boards in my livin...

Have you ever made your home feel like a different place for less than $50? Yesterday, I gave my living room a complete makeover with foam wall panels that cost only 38,000 won. I also covered my sofa with a beautiful fabric cover I had bought some time ago. The whole room feels different now. When I sit on my sofa, I feel as if I have checked into a lovely new hotel. But the best part isn't the money I saved. It's the feeling of accomplishment. The job required some help, but I decided to challenge myself and see if I could do it. And I did it without failing! That little success gave me more confidence in myself. Sometimes, trying something new and discovering that we can actually do it is more rewarding than we expect. Now, I have something else to look forward to. In front of my house, a row of yellow chrysanthemums is growing beside my vegetable garden. Each flower is small, but the bushes are covered with so many little blooms. In about a week, I expect to see them in ful...

I have had a simple idea since I was young. Even if I live in just one room, I want to feel at peace. Of course, living in a nice house, buying nice things, and traveling are all good. But if I have to worry about money all the time, I do not think that kind of life is worth it. My spending rule is very simple. If I have the money, I do it. If I don't, I don't. If I want to travel but cannot afford it, I can wait for another chance. If I want something, I do not have to buy it right away. Golf is the same. I love golf, but I do not change my golf clubs every time a new model comes out. My current clubs are good enough for me to enjoy the game. Of course, if I really need new clubs and have enough money, I can buy them. But if I don't have the money, I can keep using the clubs I already have. I can buy them when I have the money. If I don't, I can still enjoy golf. How Credit Cards Change the Way We Spend Credit cards make it easy to buy things now and pay for them later...

This morning, I had a golf game scheduled for 8 a.m. I had been checking the weather forecast since early morning. The rain looked heavy, and I thought it might be better to cancel. However, when I called the golf course, they said the weather was fine enough to play nine holes. So I got dressed and left home. But there was something else on my mind. Before leaving, I heard thunder and saw lightning. Rich, who is usually a very brave dog, gets terribly frightened during thunderstorms. He trembles and has a hard time. As I opened the door, Rich lowered his tail and stayed close behind me, as if he were saying, “Mom, where are you going? It's thundering. Don't leave me!” It broke my heart to leave him like that. Still, I had made a promise to meet the other golfers. Some of them were coming from far away, and I felt that keeping our plans mattered, too. Since the golf course was only about 15 minutes away, I decided to go, say hello to everyone, and come back quickly if the game ...

One of my chopsticks had been missing for almost two weeks. I looked everywhere in the kitchen. I checked the drawers, the dining table, and all the little corners where I might have accidentally put it. Nothing. I started wondering, “Where on earth did you go? Did you fly up to the sky, or did the ground swallow you?” 😄 The problem was that these chopsticks were part of a matching set. Only one chopstick was missing. Every time I ate, I had to use a different chopstick with it. It was such a small thing, but it kept bothering me. At one point, I even thought, “Maybe I should just throw the whole set away and buy a new one.” Then today, something unexpected happened. I was walking past a corner of my vegetable garden when I suddenly noticed something. Wait… is that it? It was my missing chopstick! I think I must have accidentally thrown it into the garden together with a huge pile of watermelon peels when I bought two watermelons and cut them up for the refrigerator...

Over the past year, I have noticed a few small changes in myself. Until last year, I rarely kept pain relief patches at home. Of course, I sometimes bought them when I really needed one. But I never thought about keeping them in the house. These days, however, I feel a little uncomfortable when I run out of them. It is almost like not having Tylenol in my medicine cabinet. So whenever I go to the pharmacy, I usually buy some patches to keep at home. I never paid much attention to these patches before. I thought I could simply wait a few days whenever my muscles felt tired or sore. But one day, I tried wearing a patch for a day after my muscles became tired. To my surprise, I felt much better the next day! Since then, I have changed my habit. Instead of putting up with muscle pain for several days, I use a patch when I need one. I guess I am learning to take better care of myself. My Body Needs a Little Rest, Too Recently, my golf shots were not going well, so I went to the driving rang...

These days, I sometimes ask myself, “What did I actually do today?” I didn't go anywhere special. I didn't do anything extraordinary. And yet, somehow, the day disappears so quickly. So I started thinking about what I actually do. Before taking the dogs for their morning walk, I turn on the robot vacuum. Then I take my two dogs for a walk. When we come home, I brush their fur. I make mixed-grain rice, wash and cook some bean sprouts, season them, and fry a couple of eggs. I eat breakfast, take my medicine, wash the dishes, and make myself a cup of coffee. And somehow, a good part of the morning is already gone. Then there is something else that comes with having two dogs. Opening the door. They want to go outside. They come and stand next to me, so I open the door. A little later, they want to come back inside. So they stand at the door and bark. I go and open the door again. A little later... They want to go outside again. Open the door. Then ...

It rained a lot yesterday and today. I had actually been waiting for the rain. A while ago, I planted cabbage seeds in my little vegetable garden. Soon, tiny cabbages began growing everywhere, very close together. They were still baby cabbages, not big mature heads. I have been thinning them out little by little and eating the small ones as they grow. The problem is that bugs love cabbage. When the seedlings first appeared, I saw quite a few bugs, so I used a little insecticide. But then, almost no rain came. I kept watering the garden with tap water, but I still felt a little uneasy about eating the cabbages. So I waited. I wanted to wait for a good amount of rain before I started eating them. Finally, yesterday and today, we had plenty of rain. After the rain, I went out to my garden. The wet black Jeju stones were shining, and the little green cabbages were everywhere. Today, I picked a few of the baby cabbages. I washed them well and made a simple Korean soybean past...

or a long time, I was the kind of person who chose the cheaper option whenever I bought something. Even when I liked something more expensive, I often thought, “Something a little cheaper will be fine.” If two things looked similar and did almost the same job, why spend more? I thought that was the smart and responsible way to live. But lately, something has changed. Last year, I replaced my golf clubs. I chose the XXIO Royal Edition — driver, woods, utility clubs, and irons. Since I love golf and actually use my clubs all the time, I decided to choose what I truly liked. And this year, I bought something much smaller. A Starbucks tumbler. It cost 38,000 won (US$28)😁😃. I actually thought about it for quite a while. I could have bought a similar tumbler for less. But this time, I asked myself three questions. Do I really like it? Will I use it for a long time? Will it actually make my everyday life a little better? The answer was yes to all three. So I bought it. And strangely enough,...

Something feels different these days. There were times when I felt like I was alone in the world. But that feeling has slowly faded. Since I started my blog, more and more people have quietly found my little corner of life. And now, I am getting close to 20,000 visitors . Only 299 more to go.   But honestly, the number is not the most important part. What makes me happy is realizing this: There are people somewhere in the world who think like me. I do not need to be surrounded by people all the time. I just like living my own life, and sometimes finding someone who quietly says, “Me too.” That is enough. Tomorrow is Chuseok, one of Korea's major holidays. But these days, families do not always gather in one place. People have their own lives, their own homes, and their own routines. So I will spend the holiday in my usual way. Today, I went to the golf range. I am slowly finding the swing feeling I had before my finger started hurting. And I remembered aga...

Yesterday, I met two police officers I had gotten to know through an English interpretation job. Both were a little younger than me, and they looked very healthy and strong because they exercise regularly. To be honest, I went there hoping to get some good energy from them. But after talking with them, I felt like they had taken some of my energy instead. Haha. Both of them said that life had been very hard. Being a police officer, they told me, means dealing with much more than most people probably imagine. Of course, there are serious crimes and accidents. But there are also many smaller situations. Couples have arguments and call the police. People have emotional fights with each other. There are small traffic accidents where no one is seriously hurt. In Korea, if you call 112, the police come. If you call 119, someone comes to help. We are so used to this that we sometimes forget something very simple. The person who comes to help is also a person. After spending the whole day deal...