Lent 2024: Ten Steps

A friend recently told me about something a legendary golfer does when he hits a bad shot. He allows himself ten steps to think about the shot, then thinks of it no more. This ten-step approach to dealing with bad shots is so simple, and yet it’s enormously difficult to do - in golf and in life.

I can’t begin to tell you how often I’ve hit bad golf shots. Unlike the wise golfer who only stews over his bad shot for ten steps, I’ve thought about mine for days and ruined wonderful days on beautiful courses. To learn the ten-step rule would be a significant improvement in my game. It would improve the way I live my life.

When I look back, I can see countless mistakes I’ve made over my life. Some have cost me dearly. But what I mourn almost as much as the mistakes themselves is how long I’ve thought about them. I have used those mistakes to bludgeon myself over and over again. Had I learned the ten-step rule when I was young, maybe I’d have used those ten steps to think about my mistakes and then move on. Instead, I’ve carried those mistakes with me and missed much of the joy of other “shots.”

Some people decide they’d rather carry the mistakes of others than their own. They do so long past the ten-step limit. Stewing in the waters of resentment and rage, they miss the freedom of letting things go and getting on with this game called “life.”

It’s time to try something new.

In Lent, we’ve looked at our lives - our fears, wounds, and mistakes. It’s time to practice the ten-step rule and let our mistakes, and the mistakes of others, go.

There’s a happy, joyous, and free life waiting for us all. It only takes ten steps to get there.