Todays Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul

[Guest guest]

Character Building

By Jim King

I was playing golf at the local course in my hometown when I sent an

errant

approach shot into the parking lot adjacent the clubhouse. It took one hop

and

plowed right into the side of a pickup truck parked in the lot. To make

matters

even worse, the owner was sitting on the tailgate changing his shoes. Of

course, my first reaction was to slink the other way and hope that nobody

would

know where it came from. But, I decided, I had to own up, take

responsibility

for my actions.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the truck and sheepishly

apologized

for what I had done. To my surprise and delight, the man smiled and told me

he

learned long ago that sometimes you get the better of the game, and other

times

the game gets the best of you.

With a heavy sigh of relief, the weight of the world off my shoulders,

I

reached down to retrieve my ball from its location near the front tire.

However, as I bent over, the shift in weight caused my bag of golf clubs to

swing around, smashing into the side of his truck. I looked up at the man,

and

with a smile that was beginning to flatten out he said, " Now I'm starting to

get

mad. "

Enough character building for one day. I grabbed my ball and took off.