Intangible rewards

I play golf. Yes, you already knew that and some of you, no doubt, are sick and tired of reading about it. But I am compelled to write about it, to speak about it, to engage in it.

I'm addicted.

That's an accurate description, I think. I went through similar emotions the 2 years I was a surfer dude. In those days, I would hang around the beach even when the surf was poor or non-existent. I even tried to ride my board on one foot waves. Even today, 45+ years later, I look at waves with longing and the urges fill my brain.

With golf, I spend a lot of time playing the game and reading about it and watching it on TV. Just as I used to do with surfing. But I don't hang around the golf course nearly as much as I did the beach. This is a much more mature and controlled addiction. Perhaps it is because I am older and, presumably, mellower.

Golf is a silly, simple (yet surprisingly complex) game. When you do something right in golf, the feeling is similar to a good ride on a wave, or getting acknowledgement for a job well done at work, a kiss from the love of your life. It is not something one can describe adequately in words.

There was a saying about LSD. That you couldn't explain the experience. That it was like explaining an orgasm to a virgin. That's an extreme but it isn't far off the mark. The same feeling comes with whacking a baseball out of the park for a home run. And throwing that perfect spiral with a football. And acing a test.

Scientists might (if they haven't already) discover that these things cause a flood of endorphins in the brain. We may not understand the reason they make us feel so good but we certainly can enjoy the feeling.

Thinking back, I have felt similar feelings in doing all kinds of things. I have seen it in the face of my son when he took his first steps successfully; when he rode his bike for the first time on his own; when he pitched a really good game.

Life is addictive and doing something in it well ought to give you a reward. Those endorphins? They're the reward.

Now, if I could just get that rush from taking a nap...