Photo by Jopwell
It seems like a tough take to embrace the idea of playing your own game, most especially when you’re running behind on progress, and everyone around you looks to be in the first lane of life.
“Do I have to play like everybody else, or, can I play my own game?”
Above is an excerpt from an inspiring masterpiece entangling a story of an independent golf specialist, Philip Ripley Ward. One of his remarkable achievements as an author is writing Golf Is Not What You Think: The Finishing Touch. It portrays his engaging twists of personal experiences interlaced with a ton of witty satire.
The inspiring and insightful story, with a tread of the author’s difficulties and struggles, perfectly encapsulates the idea of staying focused on your own course instead of comparing your journey to others. Ultimately, its importance is something to be greatly regarded because of its immense impact on people’s quality of life. This covers an individual’s outlook on life and their ability to live a fulfilling one.
Trapped by the Comparison Game: Falling Down an Endless Rabbit Hole
When consumed and burdened by life’s circumstances, we often feel like we’re falling behind on progress. While that’s the seemingly unfortunate case for us, everyone around us seems to soar.
Because of this, we are left to compare our own journey and progress to how others are doing. It’s actually an inescapable dwelling for every individual to experience the losing side of the comparison. At the end of the day, there’s always someone better than us, and there are also situations we are better than others. However, this perspective shouldn’t be the primary focus.
Comparing yourself to others, whether you are the better one than them or they are better than you, is not the right path to take.
Why is that?
Because it will only take you down an endless rabbit hole of discontentment and unhappiness. This begs multiple questions: Will comparing yourself to others really help you get better? Once you do soar higher than the person you’re comparing to, will you ever be able to draw the line eventually? Let’s admit it, will we ever attain contentment and satisfaction with what is and what is not?
Photo by Airam Dato-on
Focus on Your Own Journey: Playing Your Own Game
Stop comparing yourself to others, and rather, focus on yourself. Your progress is as important as theirs. Your wins, no matter how small or big, are worthy and deserving of celebration.
In attaining a fulfilling and happy life, it is crucial to embrace playing your own game. The only person you should compare yourself to is you and only you. Essentially, it is your personal journey, and it has the potential to be exceptional when you embrace your uniqueness.
If you are looking to improve yourself, compare yourself to how you were yesterday. Determine where you left off inadequate and, perhaps, set it as a starting point for you to improve and better yourself in various ways.
Embrace Your Uniqueness, Embrace Your Unique Path
It is important to focus on your own journey and embrace your unique path. As a matter of fact, welcome and embody your uniqueness in a way that upholds acceptance.
Often, what drives us to compare ourselves to others is our feeling of being incompetent, lacking, or entirely unable to accept who we are as individuals. The thing is, we are unique in our own ways. We have our own edge in life, and we individually possess our own particular strengths, abilities, and life experiences.
While others are achieving their own bits and pieces, we are also challenged to achieve our own. We must cultivate a sense of self-acceptance to fully embrace our uniqueness. Thus, through this undertaking, we will be able to find great satisfaction and happiness in our own journey in life.
Life Is Not a Race: Do Things at Your Own Pace No Matter How Slow or Fast
You don’t have to play like everybody else to surpass them. To begin with, life is not even a race, so start playing your own game because this is YOUR journey. There are times when we are slow at certain things, and times we are quick at some. The important thing to take note of is to accept and embrace your own pace and how you navigate through the challenges.
The finish line or the end goal is not always what we should fixate on; rather, our progress and the lessons we learn along the way, which altogether add up to our personal growth.
Finally, Golf Is Not What You Think: The Finishing Touch by Philip Ripley Ward is a must-read book to add to your collection. To purchase your own copy today, click here. And while you’re at it, you may want to read another engaging and inspiring article about how golf reflects life.
- Playing Your Own Game: Staying Focused on Your Own Course - November 14, 2024
- Be a Better Junior Golfer: Why You Aren’t Improving - November 8, 2024
- Golf Imitates Life: Golf Reflects Life and Its Complexities - October 15, 2024