The COVID Lip Out - Golf, Gratitude and finding the Good
According to a recent survey by Modern Health, 47% of people feel more anxious now than at any other point in their life—that’s half of us !
In spite of feeling knocked off kilter, I’m back to enjoying one of my favourite pastimes—golf. It’s a time to be out and about in the fresh air, enjoy with friends, meet new people, and to experience the intersecting beauty of human design with nature.
COVID delayed the start of golf season by about 2 months here in Nova Scotia but I’ve already played 12 games and there’s one aspect of the game that is a little different because of COVID. The cup on every green is stuffed with styrofoam so that the ball doesn’t fall to the bottom of the hole—it only drops 1/2-3/4 of an inch.
A holed putt with the styrofoam pool noodle in the cup
This is so you don’t have to handle the flag and it minimizes any chance of touching. The problem is that the ball can easily pop out so we instituted a rule that we call the COVID Lip Out. The rule states that if the balls goes in the cup and pops out, any of the players in the group can declare “COVID Lip Out” which deems the putt was sunk or the chip shot was holed.
Not surprising, every time I’ve witnessed this rule invoked, everyone smiles ! It really puts things in perspective.
Apologies to golf purists and PGA pros, but I think we’re better off because of the the COVID Lip Out rule. This is one little way we’re finding the good in challenging times.
And this is exactly what gratitude does—it helps you find the good in almost any situation. Whether it’s COVD, a loss, a diagnosis, or any type of challenge, gratitude helps us discover the good. At this time, tapping into gratitude has never been needed more because so many of us are knocked off kilter. And while there’s no guarantee that you’ll find the good in your situation, gratitude will help you find the good faster and find more good than you thought possible.
All you have to do is ask one question (just be specific though),
“What am I grateful for in my situation ?”
Build a gratitude list by recording what comes up and be patient if the list is not as extensive as you might have hoped. Regardless, and this is important, for the next couple of days, pay attention to possible answers because once you ask your brain that question, it will go to work looking for the answer.
