“Retirement Golf”

When I retired in the fall of 2019 I had grand visions of what my golf game would look like in retirement.  I saw myself playing three or four rounds a week.  I was practicing two times a week and I was hanging out at the golf course most of the other days, just drinking in everything golf. 

I saw myself loading my golf clubs into our 5^th wheel Luxe Toy Hauler (affectionately called “Dee”), and heading to the next state to play a round so I could cross it off my bucket list of golfing in all 50 states. 

Heck, my dreams even had me becoming a scratch golfer in no time and included visions of my calendar fully booked with the dates of every LPGA, PGA and Senior Professionals golf tournament scheduled, along with the closest RV park booked, so I could watch in person the pros play the game I so enjoy!

I would daydream about the shopping trips I would take to buy the best golf clubs out there, the latest golf gadget that promised to improve my game, and the sharpest golf attire to look my best on the course!  I was ready for the ultimate golf life!

I honestly think my original goal was to play golf EVERY SINGLE DAY – but I soon realized that was just TOO much golf!  Apparently I don’t need to play golf every day to be good! 

Who would have thought?

While I don’t play every day, I am playing on a regular basis, and I get to play off peak, when we “Evergreens” have the course to ourselves!  I skip the weekend rounds where the wait time to tee off can be longer than I would like.

And I’m playing the best golf of my life….

or at least the most enjoyable!

How could that be, if “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? It’s true that learning to do new things, or improve on an existing skill, is more difficult as you get older – because it just seems harder to break habits and let go of the old way of doing things.

But there are compensating influences that do make it possible. 

The biggest one being that I am free of the responsibilities of work, I can relax more when I’m on the course; I’m not thinking I should be elsewhere.

When I retired, many people told me the novelty of not having to go into the office would give way to thumb twiddling pretty quickly for me. 

But that hasn’t been the case – the reality is that I am busier now than I ever was before I retired!

After I retired and no longer had to go into work every day, it seems like everything else expanded, multiplied, and rushed in to consume the time I used to work. 

I have no idea how I ever had time to work and still get everything else done!

Not only am I playing golf more, I have time to work out, volunteer, travel more, spend more time with my family and friends – the list goes on.  And when that list gets done, a new one begins. (I do love my lists!) 

Some would say that staying busy certainly beats being bored and having nothing to do. But being busy doesn’t always mean that everything is fun or at least pleasant. I am busy, and yes some of it is fun or at least pleasant, but something was missing.

I realized what was missing was fulfillment.

And that came as a surprise to me. I never imagined that fulfillment would be something I needed to be concerned about after I retired.  After all, isn’t retirement supposed to be endless days of leisure, pleasure, and relaxation?

Not all the time.

Human nature is such that we aren’t meant to be fulfilled by constant pleasure.  While it’s healthy and satisfying to allow ourselves time for leisure and relaxation, we still need to feel like we have a purpose for our life.

Pleasure is fun; fulfillment is rewarding.

These aren’t mutually exclusive; the best activities are both fun and rewarding.

Before retirement I had found purpose and fulfillment in my career.….but my options for fulfillment during my career were limited to activities that would earn an income.  

After I retired, I have been able to pursue whatever brings me fulfillment without regard to whether someone will pay me to do it.  Yes, golf is high on the list of what brings me fulfillment and is rewarding – but there is so much more outside of golf that I am experiencing as well.

My Reads from the Reds – Retirement offers me the best opportunity of my lifetime to find fulfillment by doing what matters most to me.

Fairways and Greens – We are 18 Holes and Counting!

Written by Kathy Festa