Entitlement Trap

There’s something new in town. Golf simulators allow one to practice on a driving range or to play one of over 2,800 digital replicas of real golf courses.  Weather is no longer a problem. One team can play against another in-house or even internationally online. A player can see the analytics of ball trajectory, speed, and distance, the swing speed and more.  

Since it’s been decades, I was primarily interested in the practice tees. I was nervous. There was a good chance that this once-upon-a-time low handicap golfer would spend some time whiffing the ball. There was little chance that anything resembling earlier abilities would be revealed. 

A couple of days is all it took to show me a few things.

• I could still swing a club without hurting myself.
• It was still possible to make pure club to ball contact.
• A decent, flexible range of motion was still possible.
• A subjective ‘good shot’ to ‘bad shot’ ratio was consistent at 80%.
• There was about a 30% loss of distance from those earlier times.

The other day, the system was down and troubleshooting proved futile. This wasn’t the first time, and although I am reasonably comfortable with the use of software, I was unable to figure out why the screen was unresponsive. 

Several pieces of software combine with some expensive hardware to provide results. From what I could tell, the launch monitor uses cameras and radar to capture various data points. Algorithms translate this information adding it to the course simulator that includes programed wind speed and direction, the angle of the ball’s lie, distance to the hole, and more. Before the player finishes the swing follow-through, calculations have projected a correct visual on the screen. 

The type and analysis of these metrics is astounding. The measurements include ball speed, swing speed, swing angle, club face at impact, ball spin, distance traveled in air and to the final resting place. Before striking the ball, windspeed, sun location, topographic tilts, distance remaining, club suggestions, and whether golf spikes are tied properly are displayed. Well, that last one is just to make a point.

On this day, I had none of that. Nothing about my shoes, nothing about anything else. I was frustrated. I have been trying to use some of these metrics to see improvements necessary to correct loss of distance. I might just as well quit and in fact, I walked away from the tee several times. 

Self-talk screamed, “Enough. I’m out of here!” “No, just stay and hit a few more balls,” my calmer voice suggested. I agree but soon I’m looking for the exit once again.

One side of me says, “QUIT! Go get some cake.”. The other side replies, “Hey. Stick around. Just hit a few more.” Let’s just say a compromise was reached. I did not eat cake.

There seems to be a common aversion to embracing delayed benefits when the expected ideal seems disappointing. However, the lack of perfection does not demand immediate rejection. 

The thing behind the thing is still valid: Exercising muscles, stretching, flexibility, and range of motion remain. I never started this revival expecting my relationship with club and ball to resemble what it was decades ago. I have even admitted that playing a real-life golf course is probably not in my future. Situational reflections looked like this:

• The simulator is not working but you have a huge screen in front of you and adequate headroom to swing a club and hit a golf ball. 
• The metrics are not available, but you’ve played enough golf in your life to ‘feel’ a good shot. You can tell when hitting a ball center mass. You can feel the lift of the ball and approximate the direction. You’re kind of a human-based simulator.
• You don’t know what the ball speed is when leaving the club head, you don’t know whether the swing arc is correct or even if the angle of the clubhead at impact was aligned perfectly. But you never knew those statistics when playing the Hillcrest Golf Course either.
• It is less fun when the simulator is not working. But the thing behind the thing still applies and provides substantial benefits, especially at my age. 

Now here’s the point. It seems that in our digital age, we become very accustomed to the ‘full experience’ provided by technology. I’m not sure why this happens, but it seems that the moment we see what technology can do for us, we demand it. It becomes our ‘right’, so to speak. We adjust to the ideal and decide we are at once entitled to the full range of possibilities. Entitlement does not realize that just moments ago, we didn’t even know these possibilities existed. 

In awe of the range of information calculated for my practice sessions, it seems that I adopted the attitude of entitlement. I was owed this information!

However, my reflections revealed something important. Honestly, I wasn’t there to rejuvenate my golf game or to somehow learn to be that successful player of days gone by. 

I was there to remember that feeling of a shot well played and those youthful days of glory. 

I was there to bring that joy into the present while exercising shoulders, hips, back, arms, legs, grip, and core. By quitting, these benefits were reduced to zero. 

Demanding the newly discovered technological advances has effectively removed the benefits of exercise and just as importantly, extinguished memories that produce joy. Choosing entitlement rights has deprived me of joyful living.    

The broken golf simulator provided lessons significantly more important than the immediate results of a traveling golf ball on a flat screen. I was taught to pay attention to the thing beneath the thing. I was instructed to appreciate the upside of an underlying benefit. I discovered the downside of technological privilege. 

I came away with an understanding that joyful living is far greater than demanded entitlement. 

Find that thing behind the thing. Use that to keep a joyful heart, especially when things don’t go as planned. Keep on keeping on. Some would even say, "Keep your eye on the ball."

* * *

“Who has impeded your progress and kept you from obeying the truth? You were off to such a good start. I know for certain the pressure isn’t coming from God. He keeps calling you to the truth.”  Galatians 5:7 (The Voice)

We Become – a New Mantra

1. “We are our choices.” Jean-Paul Sartre
2. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. “Decisions shape our lives more than circumstances.” Steven Covey
4. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Most will see a pattern when reading the first three quotes but will question how the fourth dovetails with the others.

A Blanket Cover-up

Our brains love short cuts. Making things simpler, they organize similar things together. Pliers, wrenches, and hammers are found in the same toolbox. Tulips, Orchids, and Roses are categorized together as flowers. 

But, especially in the spring, we have a decision to make. 

The Most Trusted Man in America

Our news was delivered twice a day when I grew up. The St. Paul Pioneer press hit the doorsteps before dawn each day. And in the evening, The St. Paul Dispatch was there to wrap things up.   

In the world of black and white television, before the Peacock of Color (NBC) made its presence common to household viewers, the first 30-minute nightly news broadcast hit the airwaves on September 2,1963. 

We did not abandon the ink-smudged fingers from newsprint, but we enjoyed having a shortcut to the activities and events of the day. We religiously watched Walter Cronkite from his lead story to his iconic sign-off, “And that’s the way it is, on (day and date).”

As Far as East is from West

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed. 

Happy Easter!

Masses of people will celebrate this holiday with colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, and ham, while gathering with family. We celebrate with you!

Masses of people will celebrate this holiday remembering Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. We celebrate with you!

For those who are remembering, I have a couple of comments. But nevertheless, the remarks are useful for all of us, spiritual or not.

Knee-jerk Responses

 “Don’t run with that knife!”

A television show. The protagonist is chasing his nemesis. But the good guy is holding a knife! The quote above screamed through a voiceless consciousness. No forethought. No careful analysis. Just the conviction – immediate and determined. (Whether I am alone or with others, I make it a point never to scream at a screen.)

During my childhood, I was reminded on more than several occasions that running with sharp items is dangerous. Those past warnings were immediate, determined, and certainly not voiceless. Urgent admonitions had effectively been drilled deep into my unconscious behavior. I will never hurt myself by running with a knife and I stand very still when slicing tomatoes. 

Rainbow Reminder for Current Times

2,348 BC, Or 5,700 BC, Or 50,000 years ago, Or. . .

Paramount Pictures added a disclaimer to marketing materials in February 2014, which read:

“The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis.”

Memories That Steal

It’s a nice little town. Rural, quiet, and peaceful, the population of around 2,600 is notably diverse.

On the surface, nobody would care if I chose to visit or to avoid this place. Afterall, it is just one of approximately 600 similar towns in the State of Iowa. It would matter only to me.

I chose not to go. 

Transformational Timelines

• “I know him! He’s a friend of mine.”
• “She’s really nice. I work with her. Sure, I know her.”
• “They’re OK. I see them walking their dog. How bad could they be?”
• “Well, all I can say is that he IS my boss, but I know his type.”
• "You know them. They all drive like that. None of them should have a license."

We might claim that we ‘know’ these people because of our interactions with them here and there. Our social cognition rings true because our brains are wired to categorize people and groups within milliseconds. (For more: Google Search, "How our brains categorize people and groups.")

The Warning of Dissonance

A couple of months ago, while visiting my first grandchild's soon to be post-secondary home-away-from-home, we wrapped up the day by attending the Iowa State Symphony Orchestra's performance of “Pictures at an Exhibition” by M. Mussorgsky. 

Discussing the event on the way home, I mentioned that one of the 10 movements was still gnawing at my nerves. I suspect this piece was difficult for the orchestra to play but for me, listening was intolerable. My research suggests that this piece might be “Catacombs.” Ear attention will be adamantly refused should I cross paths with this piece again. 

The problem? Dissonance. The music just never resolved the clashing notes. Unfinished business had left me rattled. 

The Concluding Edification

Google Search: The Running Man, 2025 movie.

“Plot: In the near future, the United States is a dystopian authoritarian police state ruled by corporate media networks, where most people live in poverty with little access to healthcare. People are kept pacified by FreeVee, which bombards the population with trashy, violent reality and game shows.”

“In the near future, "The Running Man" is the top-rated television show, a deadly competition where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. Desperate for money to save his sick daughter, Ben Richards is convinced by the show's ruthless producer to enter the game as a last resort. Ratings soon skyrocket as Ben's defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite, as well as a threat to the entire system.”

Made for Darkness

Wait. What? Made for darkness?

NOTE: Today’s article is directed more toward those identifying with the term ‘Christian’. At the same time, relevance applies to nearly all readers. 

On my mind today is an easily recognized prayer, commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer’, or perhaps, the “Our Father’.

Spell Greed

This poem is often about grief. It is sometimes repeated with stories at funerals, airports, or when saying permanent goodbyes. We read, contemplate, and occasionally we cry. We promise to use ‘enough’ as a prayer for peace and contentment. We look to recognize all we have been given. We want to appreciate “enough” in every area of our lives. We want the same for every person that matters to us.

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright, no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye.” 
Bob Perks (1950-2023)

Espresso Cup - Retired

Last week, the article was early. This week, it’s late. My apologies. As I was putting this together, something didn’t make sense. Eventually, I realized I was merging two concepts that needed to be separated. That done, here you go!

Les Animaux Aiment la Musique

New Grips

It’s been decades.

As a kid, I spent countless hours at Hillcrest Golf Club in Maplewood, Minnesota. I started as a caddy—three dollars a day if you were lucky, six if you carried two bags. When the pro shop offered me hourly wages, I jumped. I pulled clubs from storage, prepped carts, shined sticks, stocked shelves, and even tinkered with my own grips and weights.

Then came the “demotion.” I became a driving range attendant. My job was to wander a hilly, rutted, overgrown field and pick up golf balls by hand. No machinery. Just bend, grab, repeat. Both backbreaking and hot, I was miserable.

Black Ice

An opportunity to experience winter driving presented itself the other day. Heading south, we had a few stops to make. On dry roads, we began our boy’s day out with coffee and treats. Our second stop: Indoor golf. Yes. Golf, but for the peace of all readers, this particular discussion must be delayed for another time. 

Leaving the ‘links’, we walked into what had become a blurry winterscape. Just one hour had completely transformed the environment - and the drive. Admittedly, it felt odd to be carrying a bag of golf clubs while walking through a practice blizzard. And, brushing a couple of inches of new snow from the car after exiting the 'clubhouse' has also never been my experience.  

Carefully, we began the next leg of our journey. Our destination required another 35-mile drive, which eventually rewarded the boys with a 3-story, 70,000 square foot attraction designed for very active (young) people. Myself? I sat in the mezzanine tracking the movements of those with untold energy. I won’t say they moved faster than the speed of light, but I must say that metaphor crossed my mind.

It was a great day, but the story to be told here involves this 35-mile journey.