Kim Swan Column: Fighting Life’s Inner Battles

[Opinion column written by Kim Swan]

Growing up in golf around much older Christian influences, I often heard the saying “we all have our crosses to bear.”

That analogy took on new meaning to me when I received a message recently from a young man – who seemingly is grappling with squandering his talent, that was equal to mine in golf – who thanked me for sharing my journey to make myself the best golfer I’m capable of again, even with Father Time’s clock well against me.

Yes, I’m in my 65th year but with a burning passion to make myself the best I can be. In spite of the date on my birth certificate, I feel I’m progressing well along the road in my quest to once again play this game of golf at the highest level I am capable.

Seeing pictures of myself from 2019 is today astounding- I can now understand the sense of urgency in the voice of Dr. Reddy and others, telling me that I was grossly overweight. That by being overweight I was placing my health, even my life, in jeopardy. But stubbornly and for other reasons, I didn’t heed those calls initially, but thanks be to God, through a renewed interest in golf, I achieved that realization in spite of myself.

Many may ask, why give credit to God and the game of golf? Simply put, the influence of golf for me has always been a gift from above and that love and passion I developed nurtured me from 1971,took me around the world, educated me, and throughout my life it’s been my continued involvement with golf that’s been a constant positive force in my life.

God gifted me as a talented athlete with an innate ability to learn from others, teach what I know to others in a way they can understand, grasp the mood of the occasion and articulate it verbally or literarily. These skills transferred from golf into everything I do or did in life – golf became my trade – the principles the game is built on became a guide and barometer.

Today as I bring these gifts together, I’m mindful of life’s biological clock – but I also appreciate that that urgency is a great way to combat procrastination.

If I were to self diagnose my overweight condition, Compulsive Eating Disorder would be my first guess. There are certainly reasons known and unbeknownst to all of us why we do what we do that can be harmful to our physical and mental health. There are far too many people in our small country carrying their own crosses alone, in need of guidance, counseling, but unprepared or unable to look in the mirror and be honest with themselves. I speak from experience.

Today I thank God for the positive influences encouraging me on this journey. As I continue on with this last dance with world class level golf, I realize that it’s a journey that is improving my quality of living, my perspective on life and also, as I’m learning, is helping others.

- Kim Swan

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Category: All, Sports