“Let It Go!”

“Let It Go” – Such an easy thing to say and such a very hard thing to do –  Specifically in golf.

I have been playing golf for a little over 22 years and I still have problems letting the last shot go, especially when I mess up.  I dwell on the crappy shot, the missed hit or the terrible lie.  I then let those thoughts fill my mind and distract me from the next shot.  This dance goes on and on through out my game.  Resulting in feelings of frustration, and fear of worrying when the next mistake is going to occur.  It’s no secret; this game has a way of playing with a golfer’s emotions and expectations. 

But I recently read the true power in golf comes from letting go.  And I am beginning to agree.

I also believe the true power of life comes from “Letting Go” as well.  After 35 years of serving our country with the U.S. Military and the Federal Government, we retired.  Yes – we really did it!  We packed up all of our possessions and moved to Florida to begin our next act.  I’m calling it “Act 3”.  It’s in this act that we are down sizing and prepping to hit the road in our RV and golf all over this wonderful country.  Our work took us all over the world and we saw and experienced so many things.  We played golf in some of the most beautiful international courses you could ever imagine.  Now it’s time to see the good ole U.S. of A. and play some golf in this great country.

But first we have to “Let It Go”.  We have to down size.  And like in my golf game, I am finding it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.  Everything we have holds a dear and special memory.  Each picture I unpack reminds me of an extraordinary event or adventure.  Photos of special friends that we met along the way – some we still connect with and others that were just for that moment in time.  Souvenirs we purchased to remind us of a certain place and books that hold the written history of those locations.  All of them are now things that have joined the pile of “Let It Go”. 

How do I do this?  How do I let them go?  Our new mantra is “Will it fit in the RV?”  More times than not the answer to that question is no.  But with each box I empty, I get a heavy chest and alligator tears because I wonder if letting them go will cause the memories to fade.  Didn’t we collect all these things to help remind us of our history, of our story?  But then it hits me – I just called all our possessions “things”, and that is exactly what they are “Things” – not our hopes and dreams. Hanging on to these things I began to see the real cost of so much stuff and My Reads from the Reds is…..it is way over priced. 

Fairways and Greens – We are 18 Holes and Counting. Written by Kathy Festa