Golf: a measure of anxiety

I love to golf.  I used to spend a lot of time golfing when I was in high school when I was on the golf team.  After I graduated, I didn’t golf as much because I didn’t have a golf partner.  This past year, I was determined to start golfing, even if that meant golfing by myself.  I got a membership this year, and I have relearned my love of golf.  Something that I have noticed is one, I haven’t completely forgotten everything!  I have had some pretty great hits or holes, which made me happy that I actually could still do some of the things that I was taught in high school.  I didn’t completely forget how to drive the ball (which was always my best and still is I will say).  And, I am still not great at putting.  That is something that hasn’t changed and won’t probably soon since I never take the time to practice it.  (Would you guess that it is also my least favorite). 

The other thing is that it is amazing to me when golfing how much I am impacted when I feel rushed, anxious or flustered.  When I feel like I need to hurry up because of the people that are behind me or when I feel like people are watching me, I do significantly worse than I would otherwise.  On the days that I relax and enjoy myself out on the golf course, not only do I have a better time, but usually, more often than not, my scores and swings show it as well.  This got me thinking again about my anxiety in general.  It seems as though my anxiety starts to impact every piece of my life.  Doesn’t it seem that no matter what it is, when there is anxiety you are always going to do a bit worse.  It is a weight around your neck that isn’t making you stronger, but rather incredibly weaker.   

There was one time in my Bible Study where it was asked whether or not we thought that anxiety and being anxious was a sin.  It was a good question.  Because really, again anxiety is our lack of trust in God, but however it is so painful and hard and feels as though it is out of control.  People can make up their own minds about whether or not you believe that it is a sin.  I am not here to argue that or even to say that it is.  I am definitely not putting any shame or judgement out there.  But it was a good thing to ponder.  I remember answering that question with the belief that it could be a sin, but one that God felt bad for us for.  It would be almost like he would be looking down on us and say, “Oh my poor child, why are you hurting yourself with that?”  I do believe that it hurts God to see in us this anxiety and depression, and how it impacts us mentally.  

Because I don’t want this anxiety to ruin my life, and in this example my golf game, I have tried to develop a few tricks to help me overcome my anxiety.  A few things that I have tried to learn are to take a few deep breaths before I swing.  I have been trying to center myself and find my peace.   I have also been trying to remember to look at my ball.  This is important when it comes to golf.  If you don’t look at your ball then you will often top it, which means hitting only the top of the ball.  When doing this, the ball won’t go as far and is often not in the right direction that the ball should go.  

Like in golf, when we feel stressed and anxious, we also need to take the time to center ourselves.  This can be done with deep breaths and resting in the Holy Spirit.  Like the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”  We have a powerful spirit with us from God.  Therefore, when the anxiety is high, I take those times to remember that spirit and pray a little harder to the Lord.  Then when there are times that our stress results in a hard life, we can take that time to spend a bit more time with our heads down and reading the Bible.  

Why would I want to be anxious when it doesn’t provide me with any betterment to the game?  Why would I do worse in my life in general in order to feel anxious? I know that if you are someone who struggles with anxiety these are questions that are hard to answer.  We don’t want to feel this way, but it is just the things that we feel.  I hope that you can start to find small ways to overcome your anxiety everyday so that you may continue to improve your life.