I am.

I went to school in St. Andrews for a while and it is simply wonderful to watch the Open Championship and see a lot of the places I used to go.  If you look carefully in some of the shots, you can see my old dorm.

Really.

I could see the 18th hole and the sea from the bathroom.

Really.

I still remember where some of the pubs are where I used to hang out, and I see landmarks that I used to pass on my way to class.  Those were some good days and there are lots of good memories of that time, I can tell you.

I took a lot of it for granted, I’m sure.  I didn’t always appreciate it when I was there, I’m sure.  So much of it passed so quickly like scenery on the road.

I met a lot of people that wonderful semester and I have lost touch with so many of them.  But I guess, in the end, that’s really the sum total of so much we do.  It’s not really about who we met along the way, but how we remember them down the road.

And I have good memories.  I have photo albums.  I have funny stories.

I’ll be in front of the TV tomorrow watching golf in Scotland.  But is that all I’ll be doing?

Nah…I’ll be traveling there in my mind and re-living a good time in my life.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

-josh

Have you seen it yet?  Have you seen the wind?  The gusting?  The blowing?  The players who teed off early had such an advantage.  Their scores are pretty stable.  But the people who came later in the day?  Well, not so much.

Take, for example, Rory McIlroy.  63 yesterday.  80 today.

Ugh.

And it has nothing to do with his talent, but all to do with conditions.

And isn’t that the lesson here?  Sometimes, there are situations beyond our control.  There are situations that we cannot change.  We find ourselves in something big…  something full of history or with the weight of immensity upon us.

Rory is on the world’s biggest golf stage at St. Andrews in Scotland.  He is at the home of golf.  He shot an unbelievable score the first day.  It looked like there could be some history for the 21-year-old.

And then, the winds of change blew in.  Literally.  And he is just one of the pack again.

What do you do when life hands you potential greatness and a great obstacle?  What is your approach?

Do you rise above?  Or blow away?

-josh