Have You Ever Needed A Tee?

I had the pleasure of going golfing this weekend with some wonderful friends who I have missed greatly. Life has a way of diverting our paths occasionally from those we love and often take for granted. We had a beautiful day of golfing and fellowship. I bet I wished... Oh about 18 times that I could tee my ball up when it was in the rough. I would have done it too, if it hadn't been for those dang golfing rules and the abundance of cellphone photography these days. When I got home and was relaxing in my bubble bath, I began thinking about my golfing and why I need a tee when I'm in the rough. Basically golf is a lot like life. Sometimes you just find yourself in a place you didn't aim to be. How many times have I looked toward the green only to find my pretty metallic pink golf ball flying toward the woods, or find myself knee deep in a poison ivy meadow before I realized where I was? That's exactly like life. I'm striving, striving, striving... Oh heck!!! How did I end up here? What I could use at a time like that is a nice solid tee to lift me up above the fray... Or better yet a compassionate should on which to cry. I know, life is rough and sometimes when someone comes to cry on my shoulder I wanna tell them to put their big girl panties on and deal with it. I mean we are all going through our own stuff, right? It's hard not to get in the mind set that "It's all about me." But I reach out to lift someone else up an amazing thing happens to me.... My problems seems to fade a little. This weekend I saw a friends face light up like a Christmas tree when she was told how admired she was. I had a friend a while back sigh with relief when I told her how well she sang at church. It's amazing how something as simple as telling someone how much you have missed them can turn their day around. It's just like a tee when you're in the rough, a compliment or word of encouragement can give you just enough boost to get you back on the fairway of life if not on the green. You never know the impact your words of genuine praise can have on a persons game.