The Ultimate Way to Tame Your Ego
Hear me out
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Don’t you just hate it when people let their egos gain the upper hand? It is a tricky thing to keep the ego in check, but I have happened upon the perfect method.
If I ever think I am getting too big for my boots, I play golf. I use the term “play” loosely. WAIT, don’t click away too quickly — hear me out.
There is nothing quite like golf for a good lesson in humility. From air shots (I’ve made a few, too few to mention) to five putts, there are no limits to the ways in which golf can make you realise that you are a woefully inadequate excuse for a human being.
Take the time I confidently stepped out onto the first tee at an unnamed golf course (the reason it remains confidential is that I cannot afford another lawsuit).
The perfect fairway was in front of me. The golf ball had other ideas of what “perfect” looked like. It decided my ego needed a reality check and made a low-flying journey straight into the concrete lip of the child’s tee just a few yards in front and to the left. From there, it ricocheted back above my head, waving insults at me, missed the clubhouse window (phew) and then decided the road and houses behind the clubhouse were worth a fly-by.
I could have killed someone. I could have hit a windscreen, and the car could have veered from the road into a tangled mess of metal, broken bodies, and an incriminating golf ball. It could have smashed through the window of one of the houses opposite and killed some unsuspecting old lady calmly crocheting doilies. It was on a kill mission. I am sure of it.
Fortunately, I had my husband, Roger with me. He surreptitiously slipped a new golf ball into my hand and hissed at me to walk forward down the fairway. “Pretend you are looking for it over there, near the trees,” he whispered. “Then drop this when no one is looking and play on.” We all need a Roger in our lives.
Shame-faced, ego in check, I did as he instructed and tried not to listen for the ambulance sirens.
Golf serves as an ego-check even if you are a top-ranked golfer. Proof? (You’re welcome):
Ps: if you need to borrow Roger, I can help with that. There is a discount for hiring him on Wednesdays.
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©Annie Trevaskis 2022. All Rights Reserved
