Eye on the ball?

Lately I have had the opportunity to play golf regularly. It is a very interesting game - in fact like no other sport I have ever been involved in apart from surfing. Why?
Because no matter what skill factor you may have you are always pitting yourself against the mind.
It is also a sport in which you alone are responsible for the calls you make. So if you stuff up then you only have yourself to blame.
I guess life is a bit like this. We can be part of a team or community but in the end your performance is really about you. It is so easy when in a team, community or nation we can blame others.
I guess that's what the Ch Ch earthquake also retiterates. Yes bad stuff happens but how do we personally react to this? How we react I guess measures our quality as a performer.
I have found with golf if I can blank out the issue of my world around me & focus on the task ahead. I score well.
If I start thinking about other issues my game falls apart.
Golf is also a game when you can be up and buzzing one hole but in despair the next. Life is like that. It's how we handle it that is the key.
I listened to the Mayor of Ch Ch and our very astute PM today talking the positive. Ok when all around you is crap it is easy to bypass this as political ya ya . But in reality if we appraoch life in a positive way somehow the pathway does not seem to be so full of brambles.
I guess where my thinking is coming from is that let's look on the bright side because when we do this the challenges always seem to be easier to cope with.

Keep your eye on the ball that matters!