Golf for Inspiration

Written by Leon van der Walt


You might be tempted to ask what golf has to do with inspiration. The inspiration in golf, for me, comes from playing it. It is a microcosm of life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Every shot you take can either be a success or a failure. Each shot you play results inrepparttar next shot you have to play. Each shot a result ofrepparttar 132855 shots up to this moment. You can love it (fairways) or you can hate it (out-of-bounds) or you can lie in allrepparttar 132856 grey areas in between (rough, sand, water).

It is said that once you knowrepparttar 132857 basics of golf,repparttar 132858 game is 90% mental. And so it is with life. If you think you can makerepparttar 132859 shot, you probably will. If you think you can't, you're right as well. To become a better player, you must learn what you can and can't do. And if there are shots that you can't make right now, practice them until you believe you can do it.

Most golfers will rememberrepparttar 132860 best round they ever played. I'm no different: it was a round of 84 (at handicap of 18) on a par 72 course. And if I must say it myself, I played darn well! And so many of us reliverepparttar 132861 glory days. Instead of moving on and continually striving to improve, we just sit around and talk aboutrepparttar 132862 good old days.

But life, like golf, can and should be so much more than a good memory. Don't ever stop and think thatrepparttar 132863 best is behind you. Play every shot as if it is your last. Play every shot torepparttar 132864 best of your ability. Accept that mistakes are part ofrepparttar 132865 game, but don't dwell on them. And remember that you aren't playing alone, so do make a stop onrepparttar 132866 19th hole.

Poop Bags On Mount Shasta

Written by Steve Gillman


Topped by snow and glaciers, Mount Shasta rises up above everything else when you approach it fromrepparttar north.

As soon as I saw it, I wanted to be up there. We were coming south from Oregon, after driving acrossrepparttar 132854 country from Michigan. A detour to northern California before heading home seemed like a good idea to both of us.

"I wonder if we could climb it?" I asked. John just nodded his head quietly, agreeing not torepparttar 132855 climb, but torepparttar 132856 fact that he was wonderingrepparttar 132857 same thing. I checkedrepparttar 132858 map. Mount Shasta is 14,162 feet above sea level. I likedrepparttar 132859 idea of climbing that high.

"Have you ever climbed a mountain," John asked me. I thought about it for a while. "Not really. A lot of hills though."

Mount Shasta City

"Oh yes,"repparttar 132860 old woman atrepparttar 132861 visitor's center told us, "people climb Mount Shasta allrepparttar 132862 time." John pointed outrepparttar 132863 glaciers onrepparttar 132864 map she had given us. "Oh, well, did you bring crampons and ice axes?" John looked at me, and I could only say, "I've heard of these things."

We did have some gear: backpacks, sleeping bags, and a tent. John had good hiking boots, but mine were more like high-top shoes. Neither of us had ever used crampons or an ice axe, so we wentrepparttar 132865 few blocks across town to see whatrepparttar 132866 guy atrepparttar 132867 climbing store had to say.

"Have you done any climbing before?" he asked us.

"A little," I answered, rememberingrepparttar 132868 buildings we used to climb on as teenagers, andrepparttar 132869 rocks we had recently scrambled up in Oregon. I figured we were ready for Mount Shasta.

"Well, you can't put crampons on those boots," he said to John, "and you sure can't put them on those," he told me, shaking his head at my shoes. Crampons apparently need rigid boots - our mountaineering lesson ofrepparttar 132870 day. We could rent them, but only if we rented real mountaineering boots also. "And you'll need ice axes, of course." I felt a pain in my wallet.

Backpacking On Mount Shasta (Too Poor For Climbing)

A speeding ticket in North Dakota had strainedrepparttar 132871 budget, and Mount Shasta was another detour fromrepparttar 132872 route andrepparttar 132873 budget. We could, we decided, hike uprepparttar 132874 mountain and do a little backpacking. Still, I had to ask, "Do people climb Shasta without gear?" The store owner realized thatrepparttar 132875 sale was lost.

"It's been done," he answered impatiently.

"It's been done," I reminded John as we drove uprepparttar 132876 road to Mount Shasta. He didn't answer, which was a good sign. I watchedrepparttar 132877 Pine trees go by, and absentmindedly poked a finger through a hole in my shoe.

"Old Ski Bowl Trailhead," John said. I looked over atrepparttar 132878 sign. "7,900 feet." We were atrepparttar 132879 trailhead, along with forty other cars, and it was early enough to hitrepparttar 132880 trail.

Mount Shasta Poop Bags

We looked atrepparttar 132881 registration forms, and had a decision to make. There was a $10 fee to hike or climb above "Horse Camp," at 8,400 feet. John pointed to a pile of paper bags, each with a handful of cat litter in it, and a plastic bag to put it in. These were for carrying our excrement offrepparttar 132882 mountain, a requirement above 10,000 feet. That clinched it. We put $10 each inrepparttar 132883 envelope and dropped it inrepparttar 132884 slot. We couldn't pass uprepparttar 132885 opportunity to poop in a bag inrepparttar 132886 mountains. I took two for myself, in case of good luck.

An easy trail took us torepparttar 132887 hut and spring at Horse Camp. We filled our water bottles. The dayhikers looked up atrepparttar 132888 mountain through cameras, whilerepparttar 132889 climbers cooked noodles and discussed weather reports. They looked at my shoes and smiled at each other when I mentioned we might climb Mount Shasta.

After Horse Camprepparttar 132890 trail gets steeper and rockier. The trees end at about 8,500 feet, leaving only grasses, flowers, and other tundra plants. Thenrepparttar 132891 trail gets lost inrepparttar 132892 rocks just beforerepparttar 132893 steep climb up to Helen Lake.

Wind And Rain At Helen Lake

There is no lake. Helen lake is a more-or-less level area of snow and ice. Atrepparttar 132894 edge, overlooking Horse Camp far below, there are dusty clearings inrepparttar 132895 rocks whererepparttar 132896 climbers camp. We found an empty spot and we set up camp. The wind was howling. We were at 10,440 feet.

Aboutrepparttar 132897 timerepparttar 132898 rain started, I realized it might have been a bad idea to talk John into bringing only a tarp, instead ofrepparttar 132899 tent. The edges pulled loose inrepparttar 132900 wind again and again, until we pinned down one side with heavy rocks, and wrappedrepparttar 132901 other side around us. Dust blew in, despiterepparttar 132902 tight wrap and rain. I was enjoyingrepparttar 132903 adventure more than John, who was very quiet. So I talked until he fell asleep.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use