Not long after the final round of the British Open, a golf commentator made this observation about Tiger Wood’s decision to change putters during the middle of the tournament.  His quote sounded somewhat like the lyrics from a U-2 song.  Here is what he said:

Tiger Woods has left more talent residue on his putter grip (whichever putter he is using) than most of us have in our entire bodies. But when things go wrong, he does what we all do. We search. And we don’t always find what we are looking for.

I like what he says about searching, because it is pretty accurate. When things go wrong in every possible arena of life, we start searching for answers. In the process of that journey, we try new things. We change habits. We purchase things we have never had before. We search for new friendships. In some cases, established relationships are abandoned. But we don’t’ always find what we are looking for…

What is the moral to that story? There has to be a hidden life lesson hidden somewhere in that quote about searching. In the case of Tiger’s putting frustrations at the British Open this past week, he ended up going back to his original putter that has won tournaments with for quite some time. Is that the hidden lesson? When things go haywire in our life, should we stay the course? Is the search for the bigger and better a foolish endeavor? THAT is a good question.

There is some degree of wisdom in such a conclusion. The missions to search for fix all solutions often lead to even greater levels of frustration. They are particularly fruitless when we are right in the middle of the issue at hand. In other words, is it really wise to change putters right in the middle of a major tournament? Wouldn’t it be better make such a decision on the practice green weeks before a major? (Tiger obviously failed to consult me on such an momentous decision.)

When we are frustrated with some aspect of our life, is it better to stay the course for a period of time? I think that is true. It might be good to start searching for solutions, but continue to “putt” with the same putter in the process. In the final analysis, we not find what we are looking for. That sounds like a U-2 song I have heard before….