At the beginning of Depression Awareness Week I wrote a post about finding your inner child. The overriding message was to “play” more and find those hobbies that you enjoy or make sure that you rediscover all those things that you used to love doing and spend more time chilling out. Like all advice and suggestions to help you cope with low mood and depression it’s easy to say. It’s not so easy to  put it into practice but this weekend I was determined to do just that.

I have to admit that I have been helped by my son Will, “The Willster”,  who decided that he’d like to take up golf again. This is great as it is something which we can do together at weekends when he stays with me. We have been unable to play much golf during the last couple of summers due to a combination of William having two knee cartilage operations and growing out of his golf clubs. I also used to suffer from awful hay fever which made playing any sport in the summer unbearable but after two years of de-sensitisation injections I can now enjoy the sunshine without symptoms. Fresh air, entertainment (a bundle of laughs when we play), and great company makes 9 or 18 holes of golf the perfect way to unwind and forget all the rubbish floating around my head for a  few hours. When I am standing on the first tee focusing on hitting a ball which looks the size of a pea praying that I at least hit it cleanly and not slice it onto the adjoining fairway all else fades into the background. So consumed am I with not making a fool of myself that worries, anxieties and feelings of personal inadequacy fly out of the window. My only wish is to get that ball onto the green!

So this weekend, Will bought himself a new set of clubs. I dusted off mine and off we went.

Today has been bright, sunny and a perfect day for golf. We had a great time making our way round the full 18 holes (I wanted to pack it in after 9 as I was winning!) and laughing so much at times that we couldn’t play until we controlled ourselves. I learn a lot from my 15-year old son. I always have. Today was no different. His view on performing a bad shot?

“If it makes someone laugh, then they are happy. If I have made them happy then I’m happy”.

What a philosophy at 15. I don’t know where he got it from but I’m glad he has. He didn’t mind that he lost 6 balls in the hedges during our afternoon’s play-it’s all part of the learning process. God help me when he gets used to his clubs….I’m in for a pasting!

Thank you Will for helping to put things into perspective. I’m very proud of you.