Ethan had always loved golf, but one Sunday morning, his nerves got the best of him during an important tournament with his friends. On the first hole, his shot curved badly into the bushes. In frustration, he muttered a word he wasn’t proud of, especially since he’d promised himself to stay calm. His friends laughed it off, but Ethan felt uneasy all morning. Instead of enjoying the game, he spent every hole thinking about that one slip.
After the match, he stopped by a nearby chapel he passed every week but rarely entered. Sitting quietly in the back row, he didn’t pray for forgiveness in a dramatic way—he simply reflected. He wasn’t upset about the bad shot; he was upset that something so small had made him lose his peace. It wasn’t the word itself that bothered him, but the lack of control behind it. He realized he’d let pressure take over something that was supposed to bring joy.
The next weekend, Ethan returned to the golf course with a different attitude. This time, when his first shot landed awkwardly in the sand, he took a deep breath and smiled instead. His friends joked that he was suddenly “zen,” but he felt something deeper: calm, confidence, and freedom from needing to be perfect. He played better—not because his skills changed overnight, but because his mindset had.
By the end of the day, Ethan didn’t just have a decent score; he had a renewed perspective. He learned that mistakes don’t define a person—reactions do. Letting small frustrations steal happiness wasn’t worth it. Golf became enjoyable again, not a test of pride. And from then on, whenever a shot went off course, Ethan reminded himself: peace is more valuable than perfection.