WELL, IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. With the coming of Spring, men and women across this country head for the links. I don’t know how many exaggerated golfing stories I have heard over the years, but the one that follows beats them all. And it’s true!
It’s an incredible golfing story that almost defies description. It took place in Benin, a small country in Africa, back in 1987. Benin didn’t have a golf course, but that didn’t keep one man from practicing his game. Mathieu Boya regularly practiced hitting golf balls in an open field next to the Benin Air Base.
One day, Boya hit a shot off the tee and it struck a bird which happened to be flying overhead. The bird, stunned, fell into the open cockpit of a fighter jet which was on the runway and about to take off. The bird---still alive—so surprised the pilot that he lost control of his plane and crashed into four Mirage jets that were parked on the runway.
With that one shot, Boya had succeeded in wiping out the entire Benin Air Force. All five planes were completely destroyed and the pilot barely escaped with his life. And when the damages were totaled, Boya’s errant drive cost in excess of 40 million dollars.
I know, I know---you think this is one of those Ripley "Believe it Not stories," but it actually happened. So, if you think you’ve had a bad day, you might take some comfort in this poor man’s plight. We all have days like that to some degree, when we unwittingly do something that goes sour. That’s when we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again.
Adversity calls for the best in us. The choice is ours. We can pout or we can praise. We can moan or we can move on. We can murmur or we can meditate on what we can learn from it. Every new day offers a perfect opportunity to start fresh. We need to fix what we can and then leave it behind us.
Have a great day---and if you happen to be playing a round today, watch where you send that little white thing!
It’s an incredible golfing story that almost defies description. It took place in Benin, a small country in Africa, back in 1987. Benin didn’t have a golf course, but that didn’t keep one man from practicing his game. Mathieu Boya regularly practiced hitting golf balls in an open field next to the Benin Air Base.
One day, Boya hit a shot off the tee and it struck a bird which happened to be flying overhead. The bird, stunned, fell into the open cockpit of a fighter jet which was on the runway and about to take off. The bird---still alive—so surprised the pilot that he lost control of his plane and crashed into four Mirage jets that were parked on the runway.
With that one shot, Boya had succeeded in wiping out the entire Benin Air Force. All five planes were completely destroyed and the pilot barely escaped with his life. And when the damages were totaled, Boya’s errant drive cost in excess of 40 million dollars.
I know, I know---you think this is one of those Ripley "Believe it Not stories," but it actually happened. So, if you think you’ve had a bad day, you might take some comfort in this poor man’s plight. We all have days like that to some degree, when we unwittingly do something that goes sour. That’s when we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again.
Adversity calls for the best in us. The choice is ours. We can pout or we can praise. We can moan or we can move on. We can murmur or we can meditate on what we can learn from it. Every new day offers a perfect opportunity to start fresh. We need to fix what we can and then leave it behind us.
Have a great day---and if you happen to be playing a round today, watch where you send that little white thing!
posted by kazookid | 7:28 AM
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