Scratching the Itch

Earlier this year on "The Apprentice," one of the 16 overachievers selected for the show stated he suffered from "attention surplus disorder." I wouldn't mind catching a mild case of ASD. My focus has been known to flashcut from one point of interest to the next with alarming rapidity, with effects both annoying and beneficial. (Hence the "mild" case.)

This comes to me as my paripatetic mind continues to regularly seize onto golf as the target of my attention. Golf has overwhelmed me in the past two years, and taken over a goodly amount of my mental real estate. But I'm feeling more focused and attentive during these past couple of years than I ever have. Maybe it's just age, but what if golf is a form of self-medication for ADD? After all, ritalin works for some people because it stimulates parts of the brain in a way they crave. Thus satisfied, the rest of the brain can operate with more focused attention, without the distraction of those bits of brain crying out for serotonin and dopamine. Perhaps the consuming pyschological nature of golf scratches some itchy part of my brain for me.

Someone once said "golf is 90% mental, and 10% mental." I have made par on every hole at my favorite local track. So why can't I make 18 of them in a row? I obviously have the physical ability to do so, I've demonstrated it. Therefore, the only thing holding me back is my mind. The fact that I can't achieve on a consistent basis the results I know I am physically capable of achieving drives me to try and puzzle out how to let the mind/body do what my consciousness knows it is capable of. Perhaps contemplating this conundrum occupies the frenetic part of my mind so I can more easily point my attention where I want it to go and keep it there for as long as I choose.