The unbroken flow of moments

"The world we live in is characterized by change. Every day we wake up a bit different than we were yesterday. Each passing moment gives us a new world to live in. We do not live in the same world we lived in yesterday, one minute ago, or even one second ago. The nature of the world is change. To be one with that world, your mind needs to be in tune with the present moment, not with the moment before this one, nor the moment to come. The concept of the present moment is necessarily dynamic.

"As soon as this moment arrives, it departs and a new one takes its place. The present moment is continually being renewed. It cannot be held on to, for as soon as you try, you are operating in the past. That moment is now part of the world as it was, not as it is now. To live wholly in the world, the mind must be moving along with the movement of the world. In other words, live with what can be called a 'moving mind.'

"Most of the time, changes are so slight that they are imperceptible. You might say, “I can stand beside my golf ball for as long as you want me to, and it’s still going to be 174 yards from the green, on a downhill lie, with a pin on the left next to a bunker. None of that is going to change.” I would agree with you, but that is only one way to interpret what you’re seeing.

"You are not projecting a golf shot into a still image, like a painting or a photograph. You are hitting the ball into an environment that is changing in subtle ways which are noticeable if your perception changes with it. The course ahead of you will accept many different shots. By allowing your perception of the course to change moment by moment, you’ll find the shot you need to hit.

"As each moment comes, the golf course tells you its story, creating an impression with you. As another moment comes, a new story is told, creating a new impression, continuing on until the right choice presents itself clearly. I found the hybrid shot in a crosswind when I stopped trying to figure it out logically, and let the course reach into my thinking and put the shot together for me.

"When your mind is moving, impressions get created in your mind that permeate themselves into your body. The physical execution of the shot will be in accord with, and a physical expression of, your mental feeling of the shot. The physical feeling you are experiencing is the mental feeling made material. Wherever you are, there is a positive shot you can hit. Looking with a moving mind is the way to find it."


-- from my new book, The Golfing Self, now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.