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through
a substance, a
man or another relationship. I didn’t join a cult or shave my head
and start chanting. I started golfing!
That’s
right – golf – and I absolutely love it!
I
bought a set of second-hand women’s clubs at a garage sale two
years ago, hoping it would give my dad and me something to do
together.
I
thought, “If I have clubs, we could hit balls together, and that
would give us good-quality Daddy/daughter time.” Of course, they
sat in my closet, unused, untouched, for two years … until
January, when my best friend, Amy, and her husband asked me to join
them for a game: “Hey Melise, wanna do a 9-hole course with us?”
My
eyes lit up! I dusted off my second-hand set, still proud of my
decision to buy them. I didn’t have a collared shirt so I faked it
and just put on a cute, golfer-ish looking outfit, and we headed
out. I didn’t do too well, but I did hit the ball and it went
relatively straight!
I
was hooked from the first time my club made contact with my
fluorescent-pink girlie-ball – my first game gift from Amy.
Scottie B. recommended I take lessons before playing too much;
otherwise, I’d have a lot of bad habits to break.
“If
you just play, you’ll do it wrong and when you want to get good,
you have to learn all over – it’s like re-breaking bones that
weren’t set correctly!”
Ouch!
OK – I decided to take lessons. That’s where I met Randy Chang.
He let me spend hours practicing, just swinging into a net or
putting on the practice green.
It’s
worked wonders on my psychological state. I have one of those ADD
brains – you know, the kind with thoughts that go every which
direction and never shut off! My brain is more charged than the
Energizer bunny – it just keeps going and going and going. …I do
yoga and mediate; nothing works, except golf. When I am hitting
balls, it’s just me and the ball … oh, and the voice of my
instructor, saying, “Now that’s a golf swing!”
“Golf’s
not a sport,” cried one very obviously studly friend. “Chicks
don’t belong on the golf course!” laughed my ex. But let me tell
you, anything this mentally challenging is definitely a sport. When
you find something that makes time non-existent – that’s
special. It might be diving, painting, running, reading, surfing –
whatever it is, that’s what life is all about! No drugs needed!
Melisa Uchida is the co-host of
“Saturday nights with Steve Bohlen and Melisa Uchida” on KHVH
830am - Saturday from 6pm to 9pm. She can be reached at melisauchida@earthlink.net.
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