I’m Reid! I write about my life experiences and how we can all live in brave new ways. Dare You is a reader-supported publication. To receive weekly posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This past weekend, we went to The Masters, and my boyfriend was hit in the head by a golf ball. Crazy… I know.
If you follow golf, you know it as one of, if not THE most prolific golf tournaments in the world. From Thursday to Sunday, it is speculated that around 40,000 people attend this tournament. So what are the odds that out of 40,000 people, it is MY boyfriend that gets hit? It was our first day at the tournament and we had been there for about three hours when we decided to take a seat in the stands at the 15th hole. After a while of watching I asked “Do you want to move on to another hole?” My boyfriend responded, “let’s see one more group.” Then next thing I know everyone was yelling “Duck!!” So I ducked, but apparently my boyfriend was too late because in the blink of an eye he was hit in the head by a ball. I was in complete shock and total disbelief. Everyone in the stands turned towards my boyfriend and if they didn’t see it happen, they knew it was him because I was being super dramatic. He was fully conscious and seemed fine but said “it hurt like hell.” The EMT’s came to check on him when all of a sudden the crowd began to part and the player who’s ball actually hit him was coming towards us. He was extremely kind and apologetic as he shook my boyfriends hand and gave him a signed glove. It was actually insanely cool
We were put in a golf cart and heading to get him checked out by a doctor when I had the thought “I can choose to look at us as insanely unlucky, or insanely lucky.” Yeah it was a bit of a bummer that we had to cut our first day at The Masters short, and I would have definitely preferred no one be struck with a golf ball, but how lucky are we that besides a bruise and a little bit of swelling he was okay! And then I realized that what made the whole event even weirder is that back in 1998 when I was just a little kid, my parents took me to the Masters for the first time, and my dad was hit in the chest by a golf ball as well! It was the first time I ever suspected I had some sort of magical ability to make things happen whether I intended them to or not because the entire car ride to the tournament I kept asking, “Does anyone ever get hit with a ball?” My parents said I asked this question a dozen times, and on the first hole we stopped at, my dad got hit. It is such a rare occurrence for anyone to get hit… I couldn’t believe that it happened to my dad and now my boyfriend as well.
After my boyfriend was assessed by a doctor, we headed back to the car and made our way back home to my parents house in South Carolina. We took a picture with both my boyfriend and my dad with their signed gloves and all had a good laugh.
I am not someone that goes through life looking at occurrences like these as just a coincidence. There can be meaning and value in everything if you look for it. This has me thinking, just like the insane odds of two of the men I love most in my life getting hit with a golf ball at the same tournament… what if I flipped it and began to look at the odds being in my favor for a good thing to happen to me? If they can both be 1 in 40,000 to get hit… why couldn’t I be 1 in 40,000 to get my dream job? Win a contest? Be chosen in whatever way I wish to be? Sometimes, we can look at how the odds are against us in life and use that as an excuse to not even try…. But why not you? Why couldn’t you be the 1 in 40,000?
There are two phrases in particular that help me reframe not so great occurrences like getting hit with a golf ball…
The first phrase goes like “Everything happens FOR you, not TO you.” The idea behind this is that when something not so great happens like getting hit with a golf ball, we can be quick to think “why did this happen to me?” and immediately go into victim mode. But what if instead we chose to look at these not so great moments as occurrences meant to be our teachers and help us grow? What if somehow they were blessings? It is way better to walk through life with an empowering mindset rather than a victim mentality. The second phrase is “Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it.” This phrase helps us take our power back and reminds us that we have a choice in how we react to things and how we choose to move forward.
As you move through this week, when things occur that might seem negative, ask yourself “How can I grow and learn from this?” and “How is this for me?” Try to look for ways that you are incredibly lucky. Remember, there is always a way to reframe into the positive.
-Reid
What a great perspective to have!
But also remind me to never go to the Masters with you 😂