Why Do People Play Games?

I wonder how many people think of golf as being "cowpasture pool?" Probably, a lot! I have been playing golf for almost fifty years and have loved every round I have ever played! Well, almost each of them! Is there any common sense reason for hitting a little white dimpled ball toward a flag and then walking a couple hundred yards and hitting it again? Probably not! At least, not anymore than kicking a ball through two stationary poles with a cross bar! Or, hitting a ball with a piece of wood and then running in a circle while others chase you! Or, rolling a big plastic ball at ten sticks to see how many you can knocked down! Get the idea? People don't play games because they make any "common sense!"


People play games for relief from the everyday grind of life! When one has gone to work every morning for 35 years and pushed the same button for eight hours and then returned home at the same time each afternoon...it can get a bit stressful, right? So, relief comes in the form of something "totally different!" A game! Any kind of a game!


What makes "a game a game?" Victories and losses? Rules and regulations? Competition? Imagination? Yes! All of the above goes into making "a game a game!" Isn't that a lot like life? As one said, "We win some, lose some, and have a few rained out!" That's life! We have to play by the rules and use our imaginations to survive! That makes life a game!


So, the next time you drive by a golf course and see some poor old guy about ready to hit that little white ball...resist the urge to honk your horn! That guy might be me and all I am doing is relieving a bit of stress!