For average golfers like myself, mulligans are a necessity. For those of you who do not play this cruel game, mulligans are essentially “do overs.” Shank that drive into the neighbors yard? Take a mulligan. Put that easy chip shot into the lake? Take a mulligan. You get the drift.
But mulligans – when used in moderation – keep the game interesting. Everyone wants a second chance. Nobody’s perfect. So why ruin an enjoyable time just because you made an error? (Or two…or three, depending upon the amount of Coors Lite consumed)
In life, we all have mulligans, we just call it something else. Its called “tomorrow.” No matter what happens in life, we always have tomorrow. Raining on your vacation? The weather will be better tomorrow. Lost money today? The market will catch up tomorrow. Big fight with your wife? She will cool down and things will be better tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. (Listen closely, you will hear your Mom whispering in your ear…. )
Yes, tomorrow is our own personal mulligan. And thank God for tomorrow. Tomorrow gives us hope – keeps us moving forward. We need tomorrow. No way we can go through life posting 120’s.
But what happens when that is gone? What happens when someone no longer has tomorrow, or they simply believe that tomorrow will be no different than today? What happens when it finally dawns on someone that everything they have worked towards, or thought would eventually happen, leads to a dead end? In essence, what if there are no more golf balls in the bag?
That, my friend, is an interesting question. I am in the process of finding my own calendar now – there doesn’t seem to be any days left in it. I will let you know how it works out.
Just not tomorrow…