Passion
Bharat Chopra - January 28, 2006
I have a confession to make. I have a mistress. Well it is not that bad; cause I am not married and I do not have a girlfriend. But I am over my head in this relationship.
I lose pretty much every weekend to her. I sleep poorly on Friday night cause I have to wake up early on Saturdays and leave the country to see her. Then by the time I get back to Singapore late Saturday afternoon, I’m exhausted and worthless to do anything else. I’ve been neglecting all my friends and really hurting my chances of meeting a proper life-partner. This mistress… takes up all my time, and lots of my money. I get into constant arguments with my best friends - almost every weekend. And almost every time I see her, I end up drinking afterwards. But here’s the thing: I don’t want to get out. And I know I am not alone. A lot of my friends are seeing her. Maybe you are too. It’s become quite a trend. She’s called golf.
It’s true. I am obsessed. Of the 50 emails I send a day at the office, at least 5-10 of them involve my golf plans for the upcoming weekend, or discussing my past round of golf. I am a member of a golf club in Singapore called the SUB12 and am in negotiations with a par three course and a bar to make them our nine-hole course and our nineteenth hole, respectively. Next weekend I am going to Phuket to play in an amateur tournament with 240 other golfers. I just got back from a small tournament in Bali over New Year’s. And it won’t be long till I take another trip to Indonesia for another tournament. Forget the fact this Chinese New Year weekend I am taking two boat rides to Indonesia and driving to Malaysia on the third day for three different rounds of golf.
So what is it about golf that makes us addicts? For all of you who don’t understand, I will attempt to explain; but before I do, let me caveat by saying I really don’t think I should have to. Everyone who has any passion of their own MUST understand the way I feel, no matter how silly they feel it is to chase after a small white round ball!
But here goes:
The game of golf is a test of discipline, courage, perseverance, and creativity. It is the ultimate test of one’s intestinal fortitude (a favorite term of my college golf coach!) And though the following expression has become cliché, the game of golf is a microcosm of the game of life. It incorporates all the emotions we experience, sandwiching pure ecstasy between bouts of chronic depression. And sometimes it sandwiches a bout of depression with a streak of elation.
Golf, like life, offers lots of choices. And everyone plays it differently. But in the end, the trick is to stay focused on the task at hand, and to live in the moment. There are no shortcuts (without compromising integrity – and you can read my earlier post on that subject if you like) and you must take the game one shot at a time. The ideal combination is a unique mix of knowing what the future holds thus empowering you to make choices in the present that take you on the path to success. And importantly, you have to detach yourself from the outcome.
What’s not to like!?
The spiritual side of golf aside, here’s a few more reasons why I love the game that has given me so much:
- 10 of my closest friendships in the world have been formed and developed through golf. Literally, I have met these people on the golf course and cultivated life-long friendships
- Made me closer with my mom and dad, brother-in-law, and uncle
- I spent a year working for the USGA teaching golf to children in Boston.
- Two other jobs of mine I have gotten through contacts I met on the golf course
- Opportunity to see some of the most beautiful places on earth: golf courses on the Atlantic (both sides), Pacific, and Indian oceans. Played on mountain ranges in Maine and Wyoming, volcanoes in Java, countless lakes around the world, Sumatran jungles, Malaysian palm oil plantations, Egyptian desert, and more.
- No matter how good you are, you can always get better (save for the 49 I once shot on Tiger Woods golf on the x-box!
Well I’d keep writing but I have to catch a ferry to the Indonesia island of Bintan in about an hour. Yep, you guessed it. I’ll be spending four hours on one of the most beautiful ocean front properties in Southeast Asia with three of my closest friends. It’s going to rock!
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Posted by Bharat Chopra at January 28, 2006 04:15 PM
Comments
Hey Joanie,
Good question: there are 34 rules of golf, which are jointly presided over by two governing bodies: The Royal and Ancient Golf Society, based in St. Andrews Scotland, and the United States Golf Association, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
The R&A rules are followed everywhere in the world except USA and Mexico. (But don't let that sound too American-centric as there are more golfers in America than in the rest of the world and the ONLY difference is in what defines a professional vs. an amateur.)
Yeah, Barapapa has taken up the game. He's still trying to get revenge from me since I beat him last time he came to Singapore with a birdie on the 18th hole!
Bharat
Dear Bharat Chopra,
I share you love of the game. I very much enjoyed the book Dr. Chopra wrote, "Golf for Enlightenment".
Golf IS a lot like Life! There are many wonderful lessons to be learned on the Golf course. I can always tell after one round with someone if I would like to have them in my life, or not. I have also made some very fine friends from strangers I first met on the Golf course.
The system of having a handicap is a wonderful aspect to the game of Golf. Just imagine how great it would be, if we all could get a handicap in Life as soon as we arrived here on Earth.
There are so many beautiful course here in Asia. I have played in an old volcano in Bali, on mountain top in Hong Kong.
Here in the Philippines where I now live we have some very nice courses. One of the biggest amateur golf tournament in the world is held here. It's a team event called the "Phil-Am" and features over 1200 players from all over the world. It is held at the end of November in the city of Baguio, which is a beautiful mountain town in the northern Philippines.
If you ever get the bug to come down here to play, let me know if I can be of any help. I would be proud to sponsor you into my club "Camp John Hay" in Baguio.
I would also be happy to invite you to play in one of our teams, in the "Fil-AM" this next November.
Some parting advise....never give up your mistress!
Kind Regards,
Stan
Thanks Bharat for answering the question....very interesting,...I would also imagine that a lot of networking and business deals happen on the golf course as well.....nothing wrong with that as much as just plain ole relaxation.
I am good at miniature golf....thats as far as I get, golfwise. BUT even with that, it takes a good visual perception and focus to get the ball where you want it. Where it lands is a whole different story altogether, lol
Take care,
Joanie
Dear Bharat; IF you would like, and if you ever visit near Parry Sound; and would like to play in a celebrity-based, Bobby Orr, golf tournament; the prizes are ridiculously big!! but, a big fee to play of course...it's an amazing weekend, draws thousands, b/c of the stars; lots of big stars, like Bobby, Don Cherry(a regular northern with a cottage around there.)
I got an inside track(brother-in-law); so if you want IN< I need a "yeah!!" to make arrangements(wink.) No, I wouldn't be there; I'd be the middle-man, and geting you in contact, with a top-gun, that helped this come about annually; and is now a pretty good friend, of Bobby!!
spiritnorth@hotmail.com
North
LOL!
your mistress is really around my home, too..
Pinehurst,NC...(US Open)
Enjoy her all over the world!love, Carolyn
Bharat,
"... the game of golf is a microcosm of the game of life."
I've heard the same line from serious fans of cricket, soccer, basketball, tennis, chess, marathon, rugby and what not. Well, even hopscotch. So you've got opponents on that line of thought (LOL!).
But leaving aside the scenario where a round of putting is an education about life, what matters is that you are enjoying it for socks. So keep it going until it pains. To have a certain something in life that consumes you, eats you up and keeps you restless has its pluses.
Sure enjoy!
Hi Bharat,
Have fun continuing to explore your passion!
Love, Kristin
Dear Bharat ... Thanks for explaining Golf, as I always wondered why people were so passionate about it. Love, Char
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Recent Comments
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char commented on Passion
Dear Bharat ... Thanks for explaining Golf, as
-
Kristin Masterton commented on Passion
Hi Bharat,
Have fun continuing to explore -
soultrip commented on Passion
Bharat,
"... the game of golf is a micr
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carolyn wind commented on Passion
LOL!
your mistress is really around my
-
North commented on Passion
Dear Bharat; IF you would like, and if you ever
Dear Bharat,
I am curious, since I am not into golf. Are the rules of this sport the same in all these different countries? I heard thru the grapevine that your uncle "big D" is into golf. Maybe it is in the blood....
Enjoy your passion as it is important to do this in life.....whatever it may be.
Joanie