I consider myself a golf enthusiast. I love the sport and in the days Tiger Woods was reigning supreme, I often stayed until the small hours of Monday morning to watch him battle the field. They say golf is like life. I agree. Watching the sport as often as I do, I have seen players surrender a lead in the final holes after leading for most of a tournament. I have seen top players winning a tournament one week and missing the cut the following week. The one thing virtually all golf players agree on – I am not one in case anyone is wondering - is that the sport humbles you. What looks like a simple shot can go wrong and thereby change the course of an entire tournament. And this can happen to any player no matter who he is and the level at which he is playing. The weather plays a role in most outdoor games. But then, it usually evens out because your opponent plays under the same weather conditions. It is not always so in golf. You can tee off under a fine weather while a much better player tees off an hour later under a very foul weather. This invariably gives him an unintentional handicap. That is the luck of the draw. In this, as in other aspects, it is very much like life. Most elite athletes in all sports play as much against themselves as they play against their opponents. In golf, the course is said to be the main opponent. And for as long as there are a few holes left to play, there is always a chance of either winning or losing because any player can have an unlucky shot. So, many golfers have learnt not to fret too much about previous shots in a game but to instead concentrate on what is left of the game. Successful players have learnt to forget the past, discount the future, and concentrate on the moment.

Chess, on the other hand, is a different sport. It is indoor and thus does not really depend on outside elements. Besides, it is two people pitted against each other in a contest that requires more of brain than brawn. Still, only a foolish player would concentrate so much on his move that he does not think of the import of each of his opponent’s moves. Chess is after all, about one move against the other. It is about strategy and counter strategy. This also teaches you about life in that an obvious subterfuge can be missed while a seemingly intricate strategy can be spotted and used against you and I have seen people give up simply because their strategy had been uncovered. I have seen people give up because they lost a Queen or two officers in quick succession early in a game. I have also seen people win with just an officer and a couple of pawns. It is not about what has been lost. It always about what is left. In Chess, what is left are your officers and their positions on the board. It is how you can re-strategise using the tools at your disposal. In golf, what is left are the remaining holes and what you can do with them. In tennis, what is left is about the final set and who reaches the magic figure six or seven first in that set. It is about what you have to do to be that person – I have seen Nadal, my favourite tennis player, win a set after going down 5-0 when lesser mortals would have given up. In football, what is left is time. I have seen many matches won and lost in the final ten minutes. The message is that if it is not over until it is over in sports, then it should not be over until it is over in life. Always check your tools at the end of every assignment to see what is left and how they can be repositioned. Your tools might be your age, your education, your physical strength, your gender, your family, your location, your experience and even your past failures.

2024 has been particularly rough on all of us. With the possible exemption of politicians and political contractors, almost every Nigerian has had to shed some financial weight. Those who had always been on the brink of poverty have been particularly hard hit. And the cries for survival from them have been strident. A new year offers new hope for all of humanity but especially for those with a positive mindset because success starts from the mind. It starts with an equanimity which does not allow past successes and failures to define you. Even the bible in Isaiah says ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past’. And in Philippians says, ‘forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before’. It starts with the ability to look inwards and re-tool. ‘Although much is taken, much still abides’ says the Ancient Mariner. Finally, it starts with the optimism that sees 365 days as 365 chances and the self-belief that 2025 cannot but be better than 2024.

Although I had written about this theme some years ago, the inspiration and credit for this article came from an end of year tract in a daily religious devotional called ‘Our Daily Manna’. It is only fitting to end the column with a quote from the tract. ‘Until you value what you have left, you will never be able to leave the past behind. Until you value what you have left, you will never be able to appreciate how glorious and beautiful the future can be. Take stock today. God can do the miraculous with the little you have left which is why you must throw away depression, self-pity and secret anger against God’ (and country).

As the year unfolds, please throw away negativity and imbibe positivity. Start the year with a new, positive energy, then watch as your situation turns around for the better. It would help if we all, but especially the youths, can have the mindset that Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things fall Apart’ had when he said: ‘Since I survived that year, I shall survive anything’.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com