Today’s story did not come to me very easily. In fact, as I write this, it is Sunday around 4pm. Keep in mind my column is due on Sunday evening. All week I asked myself what I should write about. To be honest, I have been distracted by the news and it has taken me away from seeing the good in the world. In essence, I have been feeling very negative and it is hard to see the mysteries and miracles happening around you when you are in that frame of mind.
Knowing my column was due in a few hours, I locked myself in my bedroom in order to tune out the chatter around me. During this time, my husband, John, took our dog out to play. I laid in bed and thought. I folded clothes and thought, and I even watched a cheesy 80’s movie as I thought. A few hours passed and I kept having one singular thought of something that happened to me when I was younger. Just one story to share but I still was not sold that this was the right story that I was meant to tell. And then I received a sign.
The story.
When I was around ten years old my parents took me and my little brother to play putt putt golf, something we did every so often. As the game was nearing the end, I had an overwhelming premonition that if my parents would let me golf out of turn, I would make a hole in one.
The feeling was so strong that I could not ignore it. So with all the drama a ten year old girl could muster, I tried to convince my parents to let me golf out of turn. I cried and pleaded. “Please let me hit the ball now! Please, please, please let me golf now!”
Of course, this solicited the question of why from my father, to which I exclaimed, “Because if you let me hit the ball now, I will get a hole in one!” My dad was intrigued and took me up on my offer.
There I stood golf club in hand while I stared down at my golf ball. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I readied to putt. After that it was a blur. The ball rolled down the long green turf and into the big windmill where it would spit the ball out the other end and onto the green below.
Me and my whole family ran to follow the ball’s journey. The windmill spit the ball out and, lo and behold, my ball rolled right into the hole giving me a hole in one, just as I predicted.
My family screamed with excitement and my father ran around the putt putt course telling everyone what just happened. Not out of pride that his daughter made a hole in one, but, more out of shock over my accurate premonition.
For many years, my father would use this story to reinforce in me the belief that I should always trust my gut feeling.
It is a great story and an even better reminder for me, but, I still wasn’t sure it was the right story to share or the right time to share it. In other words my gut wasn’t feeling it. Until…
The sign…
John came in from outside and I finally left the bedroom to start dinner. While we stood in the kitchen, he asked me what I was going to write about. I told him that I only had one story that came to mind but I was not sure if it was meant to share at this moment.
“Well, what is the story?” he asked. I started to share with him the story and as it neared the end, John ran out of the room while I was in mid-sentence.
I yelled at him as he ran into the other room. “Hey! What are you doing? I was talking!” He returned with his phone in hand and was looking down at the screen. This infuriated me and I said, “Wow! I cannot believe you left in the middle of my story to get your phone and play on it.”
He held his phone up to my eyes and said, “I saw this as I was on the back porch watching Bob play. Watch it!”
I was still kinda mad that he interrupted my story to show me a video he had seen on Facebook, but, as I watched my anger turned to disbelief!
The video was of a young lady on the Price Is Right TV game show playing the golf game where you need to get a hole in one to win the prizes. The name of the lady? You guessed it. Ella! She, too, got a hole in one.
In an instant I got a gut feeling. While I am inside the house soul searching what story to share, John was on the back porch watching this video! Yes this is the right story to share and the right time to share it.
Like most of life’s mysteries, I have no idea why this story needed to be told right now, but, clearly it did.
Perhaps there is someone out there who reads my column that is struggling with listening to their gut feelings. I may never know.
One thing is for sure. I believe in listening to your inner voice and when your inner voice is being drown out by the noise of the world, you will get a sign.
The other thing I know for sure is that whenever you listen to that voice or sign you will always get A Hole in One! Life is mysterious.
