It's Nothing But F^($)#g Laziness
Many years ago in the midst of a round at the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Richmond, Rhode Island, my buddies and I witnessed a horrible golfer hacking his way through several holes of golf. I was so glad to not be playing with the young man. He sucked terribly but it was not his lack of skill that turned me off. I was once the worst golfer I knew, before I practiced and improved. It was his temper that made him unbearable. Our foursomes crossed paths on adjacent holes. We watched the drama from afar.
Every shot he made was a bad shot. He cussed loudly and slammed clubs to the turf, kicked his golf bag and threw his hat to the ground. His rage echoed through the tall pines. It was a spectacle of immaturity.
After many years on the links seeing angry golfers becomes almost a norm. Everyone gets frustrated by mistakes, but the reaction is measured. This guy was an extreme case. Golfers like him ruin everyone's day. Your game suffers because his tantrums are embarrassing and uncomfortable. You can't concentrate wondering what this guy will do next.
It was a gorgeous sunny summer morning. You're out with friends playing a leisurely round of golf. How can you get so pissed off at a silly game of chasing a little round ball through beautifully manicured meadows?
After one particularly bad shot he screamed, "IT'S NOTHING BUT FUCKING LAZINESS!". I don't know why that one line stood above the rest, but my golfing partners and I roared in laughter. It was his most original line. For many years to follow it became our bad golf excuse. Miss a putt. "That's just laziness." Slice a drive out-of-bounds. "I'm so fucking lazy!". On and on, year after year, the same joke made us laugh.
You had to be there to appreciate it.
Anyway. I wondered from time to time if the madman golfer was wise in his assessment of his game .... and other bad shit we do. It was obvious this guy never practiced or took lessons. He never focused on the shot he was taking because he was still pissed about the last worm burner. His game was nothing but laziness.
What about all the other screw ups, mistakes and regrettable moments we have in life? Can they be attributed to laziness? I think they can ..... laziness of preparation, too lazy to do it right, laziness of thought, apathy in doing mundane tasks. Sometimes we don't take the time, or give enough thought, to what we're doing at the moment we're doing it. Routines and repetition bore us.
It's nothing but laziness, the root cause of most mistakes.