Ahhh. Great piece and a great reminder.

The bitter agony of defeat. Delicious food for the ego. I could have, I should have—blah blah blah. I’ve been there a million times, just like you Funny how there’s no chatter when we win. Only when we lose.

I played golf today at a spectacular course built along the North Sea. Nice fall day—clear, and mild, but how about those 40 mph winds! I played relatively well until the last 3 holes.

Hit one bad shot on each hole which created havoc and the scores on those holes pretty much ruined my round. Guess what I was thinking about in the clubhouse after? Yep, all things that went wrong.

Then, after a few minutes of not so glorious self-pity I said, wait a second cowboy. What about all the good things you did today? How about that 7 iron you stuck on the green on that par 3 in severe crosswinds and then nailed the birdie putt? What about that? And all the other great shots you made too.

I didn’t say my name, but I will try that the next time I run into Mr. Perfection/High Achiever Archetype in my head. I think you might be friends with this guy too if I’m not mistaken.

You expected to beat the guy you played. Could it have been the guy that beat you last year?

Anyway, it’s tough stuff and as you know it reveals to us what lessons we need to learn.

I’m sure you gave it your all and played as well as you could. (Pulled hammie in the first set and you kept playing for 2.5 hours? Ouch and brutal). I don’t know how you managed that!

I applaud you for laying it all on the line. Hopefully DG can accept that and find peace in the beauty and glory of the process of playing your heart out, no matter the result.

Hope all is well Mr. G.