They're eyesores, those funny-looking baskets with chain-links and yellow rims. They're found on every college campus across the southeast and maybe even farther. Disc golf has become the hobby of right now. It has yet to overpass the ever-popular eno-ing, though when it comes to outdoor events for millennials, it may be a close second. Disc golf teaches lots of physical skills like concentration, hand-eye coordination and stamina when walking from hole to hole. But, as someone who plays disc golf, I can also say playing disc golf gives a certain sense of peace and teaches many promising life lessons. Here are just a few.
1. We go back for the things we lose.
If you play long enough, you will lose a disc. Sometimes it lands in a water trap on a high-end course or, if you're playing in my hometown, it inevitably lands in a patch of poison ivy at least once per game. But discs are expensive, and they can not just be left behind. So, we disc golfers go through all kinds of incredible odds to rescue our beloved discs. We parade through freezing, stagnant water; we risk our epidermis at cost of poison ivy.
If only we could apply that same logic to the relationships we lose track of, and to the courses we give up hope on. If we would cross all of the elements for our friends, valuing them as much as we value our discs, then maybe we would not lose them in the first place. If we did not label a course lost after one bad test grade, then maybe the course could be considered a success in the end.
2. The wind has an agenda all its own.
Our discs are carried by the breeze, which is a factor we have no control over. Sometimes the wind hurts our game, and other times it helps our game. The problem is we never know exactly what the wind will do to our disc. It can shift our disc, it can make our disc go farther or not as far as we think it should. We can stop playing on windy days, or we can adjust our aim to work around the things we can not control.
Life, particularly college, is like that. There are only a certain number of things you can control; when it comes to the rest of them, you just have to adjust your aim and say a prayer. Getting all hung up on the things you cannot control will only make you miserable. We can't control the wind, but we don't have to let the wind control us, either.
3. Variety gets the job done.
People who are way more serious about disc golf than me carry around a plethora of discs in their bag. Even an occasional hobbyist like me has four discs. Like in regular golf, disc golfers use a driver for long distances and a putter for short distances. A disc golfer can not expect to reach a 600 foot par four hole by using their putter the whole way.
Likewise, we can not get through life without the ability to change. We have to show a willingness to use different tools around us to get the job done. Unfortunately, some of us wish things could just stay the same forever. We become bitter about letting new friends into the old group even when they could sharpen our aim. Sometimes we're afraid of people who make us feel like we are out of our comfort zone. But the typical rule in disc golf is: the more diverse your disc collection, the better the golfer you are.
4. Let it go.
It's a beautiful day. I steady my aim, open my eyes and release. I may not have thrown the way I wanted to, but I do not let it affect the way I play the next hole. If you want to play disc golf, you have to be willing to let go of the disc. It's the nature of the game to let go and keep moving forward. In fact, that's probably why the game is so relaxing.
How many times do we hold ourselves back by refusing to let go and move forward? Letting go may not always be pretty; your disc may waver in the air, but there is always the next hole. It's another beautiful day; the sun is shining and -- alone or with friends -- this is your game to play. Live, laugh, keep playing the game.
