Chad Silverstein recounts a humorous, self-deprecating golf outing at Mirfield with a friend (Chet) to draw parallels between golf and life. He emphasizes that everyone encounters setbacks (sand traps, woods), that attitude and resilience matter, and that learning to laugh at yourself and not take life too seriously improves well-being and helps others.
Chapters
Chet took me out on Mirfield to play golf one day, and if you don't know, Mirfield's like one of the best courses in the country. I teed off and hit a house on the first hole. I think I don't even know one of the first holes. And, yeah, I was a disaster, but I had fun. And I remember laughing the entire time we were playing. And I think we have to learn how to laugh at ourselves. We have to navigate through life. And just like in a game of golf, you're going to find yourself in the sand trap, you're going to find yourself in the woods. I don't care how good you are, eventually you're going to end up there. And, you know, all you have to do is think if you have not golfed, you won't be able to appreciate this. But if you've ever seen anyone on a golf course get really frustrated and they get just pissed and they're, you know, whether they're throwing their clubs or they react in a certain. And I just think it's so funny that you can get so upset while playing golf. And I know people take it really serious. So if you're. If you're a golfer, you know, I certainly can appreciate, you know, how. How intense the game can be and how much time and energy and money has to be invested in order to be good. And I think it's incredible. When I watch Chet play, it's incredible how good he is. And he'll say he's not good, but anytime you see someone hitting really well, hitting straight, and being able to, you know, par and birdie holes, it's incredible. You know, it really is. And I know how hard and, you know, people will work their whole life to be able to be good at golf. But just like in life, you know, golf's gonna throw those curve balls, which is why it's a cool sport, because it's not easy. Neither's life. And I always like to say that no matter where I am on the golf course, typically in the sand or in the woods, that the next shot that I take, I just want that to be the best shot. And usually because I'm in the woods or in the sand, if I get lucky, it's an incredible shot because I had no business being able to make a great shot from wherever I was. And I get an opportunity after opportun the entire day on the golf course to do that. And I think that has a lot in common with life. You know, we find ourselves in situations every single day how can you get out of it? The best way that you could possibly get out of it. And occasionally you'll get lucky, sometimes you won't. But it's the right mindset, it's the right attitude. So, like, for me, I'm not a big golfer, but I can appreciate it. And I love the. I love the similarities to life. And I think if you can appreciate things like that, it makes your life a little bit easier. What I'd want you to hear today is to learn to laugh at yourself, especially when you mess up. And just, you know, the humble approach to being able to just not take yourself so seriously is very, very attractive. And it's a powerful characteristic that will just make others around you better. So give it a try.
