Life is often compared to golf, at least by those that play the game with passionate obsession. I suppose any sport or game can be compared to life in a metaphoric sense, but golf really lends itself to the idea by its basic structure.

As in life, we start out at a definite starting point in golf: the first tee. Unlike other sports or games, golf provides an opportunity to think about what is going to happen before it does. We have time, as in life, to ponder what we want to do with that first tee shot, where it might end up and what that will mean to us.

Some people are ultra-positive thinkers and will imagine only the straightest of tee shots, others will stand in fear over that first shot and think of nothing but trees and water and all other sorts of dangers waiting to mess up their game. Still, others will be completely relaxed without a thought in their head. Personality really comes in to play in golf, as in life.

Once you hit that first tee shot, life's journey has begun. You cannot go back and take that shot over again; you must press on, find the ball and hit the next shot. Again, the real similarity between golf and life is in the thinking that goes on between shots.

Let's say you hit a great tee shot off the first tee. Your ball rests right in the middle of the fairway and in perfect position to make an easy approach to the green. Before you get to hit that approach, you have to walk a few hundred yards, talk to your playing partners, perhaps even take time out to help your playing partners find their golf ball. All the while, you are thinking of your own ball, maybe even thinking ahead to what a great shot you are going to hit on to the green or something of that nature.

Life works very much the same way. Maybe you get hired for a new job right out of school, for example, you have a great first week on the job, then you have all that time on the weekend or during the evenings to think about it. You start thinking about how much money you could make, when you will get your first raise, how maybe you will end up the owner of the company someday. This is just like golf. That simple first tee shot can put all those kind of thoughts into your head. You start thinking about the birdie you are going to make on the first hole and how today might be the day you break the course record.

So, you get to the second shot of your round, you go through your routine and you fire away only to look up and see that you hit the

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