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Old August 24, 2000, 09:20 AM
Gordon Alexander
 
Posts: n/a
Default A day of ducks and a silly goose...notes from Stalking the Tiger...

This week I'm Tiger hunting.

I'll have more on this later, why I'm such a big Tiger Woods fan. And how he is changing the game for the better.

But while at the course yesterday, I noticed some ducks swimming on the little lake.

It was a cloudy day, and rain threatened all afternoon. A storm came through, followed by a gentle summer sprinkle.

There was a duck I took note of. He was apart from the crowd. In a small cove, doing his own thing.

He had survived the storm. And was sailing across the freshly zambonied lake oblivious to what all the other ducks were doing.

Suddenly, he entered an area where a goose had taken up residence. When the duck got close, that goose through such a hissy fit, squawking and screaming, the crowd turned around to see what was happening.

Just a little slice of Nature taking place.

The goose was loud. Yelling and screaming. Telling that duck off big time.

And the goose was flapping it's wings and making a mini-storm on the now still lake.

The duck was getting sprayed with water, more than he had endured during the storm.

He turned and headed out of the cove. While everyone else was watching golf, I watched that lone duck.

I saw the water roll right off of his back.

The water from the storm, the water from the gentle summer rain, the water from the goose created typhoon.

It was all water to that duck.

He didn't seem to react any differently during the changes that took place around him. He seemed to be anchored in the knowledge that he was a duck.

Now, who knows what ducks think, right? But there I was suddenly taking notes, not about golf, but now about ducks and geese.

I turned my attention back to golf.

Does Tiger Woods have a fear of success? OH, I don't think so. Proof is in the pudding as they say. (Hey what does that mean anyway?)

Does Greg Norman have a fear of success? Well, he is one of the most successful golfers the world has ever known, but he is regarded by many of the public as a guy who can't close the deal.

He's let several major championships slip through his fingers. He was close to winning, to succeeding, but he somehow found a way to choke or to lose it.

He is in my opinion a very successful golfer. But, his record in the Masters and other championships speaks for itself.

One of my all time favorite golfers was Rod Funseth. A journeyman golfer who played for two decades, won maybe 3 or 4 obscure tournaments, but realized and accepted his place among the golfing stars.

He was not the bright comet of a Tiger Woods, who illuminates the night sky for the world to stare in awe of.

He was not the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, who was like the summer sun, blazing across the sky, day after day, championship after championship.

He was not like Arnold Palmer, the moon who reflected the romanatic lights back upon us.

Rod Funseth was a duck.

He swam in the same lake as the big ducks. But he was often in a little cove. He was the same guy, win, lose, or when he didn't make the cut.

He just kept on. Piling up his small potatoes income from his 15th and 20th place finishes, but with the attitude that a day of work on a golf course beats a day or work in the office/factory/store...any and EVERY day of the week.

During his career, Rod came across many a silly goose. Who would flap their jaws and wings with great hysteria, making headlines for a day, or even a year.

Then they would disappear. And Rod would be back out there the next year, and the next one, and the next one.

I take note of the "fear" threads. I'll have some more to say on that next week, after the tournament.

And I note the "outside" influences that many of you have mentioned, the need to please, to perform, to satisfy others.

Let me say a word or two about criticism and praise.

If any of you have been around the Internet for awhile, you know it would be hard to find a person that has been more criticized than me.

OH, I've earned most of it. But let me tell you how I handle it.

The exact same way I handle praise.

I should say how I NOW handle it, having been tempered by the fires of betrayal by my friends in business.

I am a duck.

I thank you for your praise. I appreciate your kind words.

I don't like to be attacked. Or criticized, as a person, my work? That is something open to opinion.

But, both praise and unkind criticism are like the warm summer sprinkles that cool on a hot day,

or, like the squawking and yapping of a silly goose I got to close to.

Water.

And I'm a duck.

I'll have some things to say about the fear of success from what I've learned mainly as a social worker with persons with severe mental disabilities. And have some things to say about the "entrepreneurs" attitude; right as it is, is also wrong.

And about FEAR in general.

But at the root of all of these things, you will find a duck that swims with the flock. Wants to be part of a group. And when you want to be accepted, you have to do what it takes to make the group you want to belong to, to accept you.

Wanting to belong, to please, but struggling to be an individual. And how group dynamics come into play, and the 7 exits.

Exit 7, when the person is close, is picked because of feelings of inadequacy, lack of self-worth, you'll see that has a special place on the PictoGrigm of Past Experiences.

The spotlight. The warmth of the sun. Having others look at you. Having their judgements cast your way. It is, for some, every bit as disturbing as the cackling goose, who tells you of your every wrong.

Your every chink. Your every little fault.

One of the greatest golfers NEVER to have played the game to his potential was Moe Norman.

Most people have never heard of him. He was one of the greatest strikers of the ball ever.

He just could not accept a crowd. He couldn't deal with the applause. He just fell apart under the spotlight.

Yet Moe Norman has a lot of respect among the game's elite, the knowledgable player.

Because more than one of the world's best had to reach in their wallet when they played Moe behind closed doors.

I've enjoyed reading these threads, and have learned a lot from YOU this week, thanks, NOW,

I'm headed back out to the course, to learn some more about golf...

or about Nature, or even about people.

Gordon ("daffy" duck) Alexander

PS. QUACK QUACK...may have to change Remote Hypnosis.
 


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