When Life Says, “Please Wait!”
The air was thick before I ever stepped onto the first tee. It was one of those hot, sticky summer mornings where you can almost feel the humidity resting on your shoulders. Dark clouds lingered overhead, threatening rain at any moment, yet somehow never quite committing. It wasn't exactly ideal golfing weather, but there we were, clubs in hand, determined to make the best of it.
Before we even began, we were given a little announcement. The golf course was being aerated. Not tomorrow. Not after league play. Today.
As if that wasn't enough, they would also be watering the holes as well. We were instructed to let the tractor finish its work before we played each hole. Patience, would be required.
I had a feeling this round was going to be different.
Sure enough, as we approached the very first hole, the tractor came rumbling straight toward us. We stepped aside and waited while it slowly punched hundreds of tiny holes into the green. Once it moved on we were able to tee off and then wait again to hit our second shot.
The steady hum of machinery filled the air. Water sprayed across the grass. The threat of rain still hung overhead. It felt as though every time we were ready to move forward, something else interrupted our progress.
To make matters even more interesting, I hadn't played golf in two weeks. Let's just say my golf swing hadn't been patiently waiting for me. It had apparently taken a vacation of its own.
Shots weren't landing where I wanted them to. Putts weren't quite as confident. My rhythm felt off, and it seemed as though every hole presented another obstacle to work around.
Some days golf feels effortless, this wasn't one of them. Somewhere around the fourth hole, I realized I had a choice to make. I could spend the rest of the morning complaining about the conditions, focusing on everything that wasn't going my way, and allowing frustration to take over.
Or...
I could simply pivot. Isn't that true in life, too?
Rarely do our days unfold exactly the way we imagined. We wake up with a plan, a schedule, and expectations about how things should go. Then the metaphorical tractor rolls into our path. Maybe it's a difficult conversation. An unexpected diagnosis. A financial setback. A delayed opportunity. A relationship that doesn't unfold the way we hoped. A season where nothing seems to be moving as quickly as we'd like. Just when we're ready to move forward, life asks us to wait. Then wait again. Sometimes it feels as though the obstacles just keep coming.
The interesting thing about that day on the golf course is that none of us could change the circumstances. Complaining wasn't going to stop the tractor. Wishing the sprinklers away wasn't going to dry the grass. Getting frustrated certainly wasn't going to improve my golf game.
The only thing I had any control over was my attitude.
I could choose patience.
I could choose flexibility.
I could choose to laugh when the tractor interrupted our game.
Most importantly, I could choose to keep playing.
That doesn't mean pretending challenges aren't difficult. It doesn't mean slapping a smile on everything and acting as though disappointments don't sting. It simply means refusing to let difficult circumstances determine whether we continue moving forward.
Perseverance isn't glamorous. Most of the time, it looks remarkably ordinary. It looks like showing up even when conditions aren't ideal. It looks like taking the next shot after a bad one. It looks like adjusting your expectations while refusing to abandon your goal. It looks like continuing the round, even when it isn't your best day.
I think we often believe perseverance should feel inspiring. In reality, it usually feels like deciding not to quit. Hole by hole. Step by step. Choice by choice. Believe me I wanted to quit but kept moving forward.
Looking back, I certainly wouldn't call it one of my better rounds. I missed shots I normally make. I never quite found my rhythm, and I spent much of the morning adapting to circumstances completely outside my control.
By the time we finished, I wasn't expecting much. Imagine my surprise when the results were tallied.
Somehow...
Some way...
I won low putts for my flight.
And I also won low net for the day… WHAT?!
I honestly wondered if they had the wrong name. Not exactly sure how that happened. But I'll take it. That little surprise reminded me of something I think we all need to hear from time to time. We are often much harder on ourselves than reality is.
We tend to focus on every missed shot while overlooking everything we did well. We replay our mistakes, magnify our shortcomings, and convince ourselves we came up short.
Meanwhile, we fail to notice the quiet victories happening right alongside the challenges. Sometimes success doesn't look the way we expected. Sometimes it arrives after a day that felt messy. Sometimes it shows up when we least expect it.
Had I judged my day solely by how I felt while I was playing, I would have assumed I had failed. The results told a different story.
Life has a way of doing that. There will always be tractors we didn't plan for. Unexpected delays. Noisy distractions. Uncomfortable waiting. Conditions that aren't ideal. And there will be days when we don't feel as though we're playing our best.
But if we keep showing up, keep adjusting, keep learning, and keep moving forward, we may discover that perseverance quietly produces victories we never saw coming.
As I packed up my clubs that rainy morning, grateful for the laughs we shared despite the interruptions, I realized the greatest lesson had very little to do with golf. It was about choosing to pivot instead of panic, patience instead of frustration, and perseverance instead of giving up.
Because sometimes the most meaningful victories don't come on perfect days. They come on the days when life asks us to wait, adapt, and trust that there is still something worthwhile waiting on the other side.
And if we're willing to keep moving forward, even when the tractors, sprinklers, and storms seem determined to slow us down, we just might discover that when life says, "Please Wait," it is often preparing us for a victory we never saw coming.
xo, Sheryl
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