Someday soon I plan to have a two more categories on the blog page. One of them will be “Tributes” and it will be a place where I give tribute to the people who have had a major impact on my life, an honor roll of my heroes if you will. The other category will be “Quotes from Ordinary People.” By that I mean the quotes will come from folks just like me. Not people like Lincoln, Churchill, or Hemmingway. I know we can gain a great deal from their wisdom, but I want the quotes to be real and relevant to me because they came from people I have personally come in contact with. With that in mind I want to tell you what the first quote on the list will be.
“It’s not like the greatest golfer
in the world is me.”
“WHAT?!” I heard you. I know that’s what just ran through your head, or out of your mouth. And, that is why I wanted to give you the story behind the quote.
It came from a young man with a love for sports, all sports. If you go to a restaurant with him, you have to make sure he is seated where he cannot see a TV, because if it is turned to a sports channel, you have lost him. He may be the only guy I know who doesn’t go to sleep while watching Olympic Curling.
Not only does he love to watch sports, he is very competitive. He absolutely hates to lose, and has in the past been very critical of himself and others. If a sixty foot putt by Tiger Woods failed to go in the hole he would say, “That’s a bad shot Grumpy, that’s a bad shot.” I have seen him get upset at his own failure to make a shot he knew he should have made. There have been times I had to remind him that it’s OK to miss a putt, or not make a basket, or let a pass drop.
That is why I will never forget what he said last Saturday morning while he and I were on the driving range hitting a bucket of balls. He took extra care teeing the ball, he took quite a few practice swings, and finally stepped up to the ball, took his swing, and toed the ball to the right…about four feet. I said very quickly, in an effort to avert the coming beating I expected him to lay on himself, “that’s alright everybody has one of those in them.” That’s when those words came out of the mouth of my five year old grandson, Major. He then teed up another ball, did his precious pre-shot routine, and hit another ball.
Wow, I had to laugh to myself, and at myself, in amazement. The boy was already coming to grips with something a great number of my friends, and I, still struggle with. We may never be the greatest anything in the world, but we can come to that realization and keep on trying.
I know I’m going to mess-up something today. I know I’m going to fall short of my ability in some area. I know I am imperfect without the blood of the Lamb. But I also know that I can rest in the assurance that God still smiles, hugs me, and says “that’s alright everybody has one of those in them.” Yes, that’s when I can look to God and say. “It’s not like the greatest ______ in the world is me” tee up another whatever it is, and try again.
Till next time.
Grump