Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and in today’s Wednesday Waggle we will look at how 
gratitude becomes a winning attitude. The pros take nothing for granted and certainly they all must in some respect be thankful, grateful, thrilled or just really glad they are able to play a sport they dearly love.
Real-life example: S3 was playing in a junior golf tournament in Kerrville, Texas,
and he was entering his freshman year in high school and 1 member of his group was a high school senior. Well, the senior was playing pretty well and hit a couple of bad shots. As the senior’s frustration was becoming more apparent-read anger, his Dad yelled out, “You don’t have any reason to be upset. You’re on a beautiful golf course playing the game you love!” Now whether or not this was coaching, I really didn’t care. It was a classic and intelligent statement that said, appreciate and be grateful for the times when you are in a great place doing something you genuinely enjoy!
Understand that competition puts a different stress level on your daughter, but remember that she with the shortest memory is the 1 who starts hitting good shots sooner rather than later. It’s hard for adults to be grateful all the time so realize that it’s just as hard or harder for your kids. Parents, 1 of our most important roles is to be encouragers for our kids. So have your daughter look around and see the beauty around her on the golf course. Enjoy the birds, fish, butterflies and in the South, even the alligators. Here in Central Texas we have deer everywhere and also plenty of wild turkeys and feral hogs. Golf is a sport that takes you into nature and some courses have more nature than others. Yes, she needs to focus on her game but she also needs to appreciate where she is and how privileged she is to be there.
Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. Scientists have even noted that gratitude is associated with improved health.
As noted in an article on this topic published in the Harvard Mental Health Letter, “expressing thanks may be one of the simplest ways to feel better:” Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, head of biologic psychology at Duke University Medical Center once stated that: “If [thankfulness] were a drug, it would be the world’s best-selling product with a health maintenance indication for every major organ system.” So science is coming on board with gratitude/thankfulness having definite health benefits. So Parents, you know what you need to do, thankfully, of course.
See you on #1 tee, looking grateful… Happy Thanksgiving… Sam
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Parenting Junior Golfers... 