It's that time of year where some of us will find ourselves on the golf course.  Ah, days of nicer weather, birds singing, the smell of fresh cut grass, and seeing our tree shots going straight down the fairway. Our iron shots are true to the hole, and our putts find their mark again and again.

Who am I kidding? Who are you kidding? Most of us won't even smell a par much less a birdie. And by the end of fist nine, our attitude and whole day has been ruined. We have become imprisoned. We have become captivated, captured, and validated as a person by a silly score on a card.

Maybe it's not a golf score.  Maybe it's the title we wear, the car we drive, or the house we live in. Our validation may come when we finally get that next deal, a book published, or money made. We become owned by our performances in life and the opinions of others. I am guilty as charged.

A friend of mine, Jim Fadley, gave me a book entitled Golf's Sacred Journey.  I enjoyed the book but especially the conversation between the student and the golf pro when the young man was falling under the influence of a golf score. The golf pro speaks to the younger man who had just finished a great round of golf (the week before he had a terrible round) and says, "you are well on your way to living a life controlled by a score. Let me let you in on a little secret. Life in the end will be measured by significance, not a golf score. Significance will be defined by your character, relationships, values, virtues and faith, not by a golf score."And later on he continues, "You have lost sight of what it means to live a life of significance. You see, success is a destination while significance is an eternal calling."

As I've said for several years in the crazy way I say things, you can live a life of success without being significant. But there is no way you can be significant and not be successful.