“There is an ingenious and low-tech monkey trap in South Africa that consists of a gourd with a hole at one end and a tether attached at the other. The whole deal hangs from a tree. A ball of food is placed in the gourd. The monkey comes along, puts his hand in the gourd, grabs the food, but can’t pull his hand out since his fist with the food inside is too big. The monkey hunter comes back and bags the trapped monkey. All the monkey had to do to escape was open his hand and let go of the food to easily pull his hand out of the gourd. But he won’t let go of the food, and that is the essence of the trap. For we golf monkeys, who won’t let go of the negative feelings generated by poor shots that can sabotage the next series of holes, all we have to do is let go of the memories of the shots and get ourselves free.”
From The Mindful Golfer by Stephen Altschuler
What You’re Saying