The Power of Persuasion

Have you ever known someone who has the ability to persuade you to do things that you would never otherwise attempt?  All three of my children and my husband have the ability to make me want to become involved in the things that interest them.  Of course, maybe that is really the power of love.  My family is so important to me, and they can make me want to do things that I otherwise would not even consider.

Given to my own devices, I tend to prefer doing things that are more solitary, like reading, or sewing, playing solitaire, or working on a craft.  However, if a family member asks me to join them in something, it is a lot harder to fall back into that solitary life.

That’s how Danny got me started playing disc golf.  He first got interested in the sport when his cousin Marc visited us and took Danny to a park just a couple of miles from our house where they had two disc golf courses.  He introduced Danny to the sport, and that spark of interest eventually grew into a real passion for the game. 

Danny was a year round swimmer during his middle and high school years.  That was a full time activity, which left little time for anything else.  It served him well, because he learned to train his body to do things far beyond his natural ability.  It also provided him with the ability to focus on a goal and work weeks, months, and even years to attain it. 

He was able to turn his participation in that sport as a means to a college scholarship at a Division I school which he was able to use until he graduated.  After graduation, his interest in disc golf blossomed as there were several great disc golf courses near the city where his university was located.  He had a chance to play many of those courses and got some of his college buddies hooked on the sport as well. 

Later, when he came back home as he began his adult job search, he frequented the courses in the Orlando area, and joined a handicap league.  He also encouraged the members of his own family to take up the sport.  It’s a terrific sport for people of all ages and abilities.  That’s where my involvement in disc golf began.  As he got better, Danny began entering tournaments in the Central Florida area. 

That’s when he began putting more pressure on me to also start competing in tournaments.  “You can do this, mom!” he used to say.  “You should start going to tournaments!”  “At your age there aren’t a lot of competitors to contend with and you could WIN tournaments!”  To qualify for the PDGA World Championships at my age, all a woman has to do is to compete in one tournament during the year.  That secures an invitation to the World Championships for the following year.

So during most of 2012, he often said, “You really need to compete in the Orlando Open this year.”  It is a tournament that takes place at the park where I most often practice.  He knew that would make me comfortable being a familiar course.  "Trust me! You can do this!"  At some point, in my heart I relented and signed up.

The tournament was fun, and just a bit scary, being as it was my first.  There are a lot of rules to learn and when you play in tournaments you are expected to know and follow those rules.  As Danny had predicted, I was the oldest one in that tournament, and no one else even entered the division that was offered for my age group.  So, I WON!  There is a trophy on my mantle that was the reward for that effort.

That qualified me for the 2013 Amateur Worlds Disc Golf Championship….and from there I had even more interesting adventures.  But that’s a story for another day!